For a service to be accessible at runtime, it must be hosted in a managed process. WCF services can be hosted with Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0; with the new Windows Activation Service (WAS) installed with IIS 7.0; or with any other managed application process, including console, Windows Forms, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), or Windows service applications. Selecting the right hosting environment for services is a choice driven by the application deployment scenario, including the requirements for transport protocol and operating platform. There are also other features available to each hosting environment that can further influence deployment decisions and thus the choice of host.
In this chapter, I’ll first describe the desired features of a hosting environment and the fundamentals of WCF service hosting. After that I’ll drill deeper into hosting semantics and features of Windows applications, Windows services, IIS, and WAS. In the process, you’ll learn practical implementations for each hosting environment, gain insight into their specific features and benefits, learn how to select the right host for your service, and complete several hands-on labs to solidify your understanding of each environment.
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