SQL Server Notification Services Released

SQL Server Notification Services, a new add-on for SQL Server 2000, is now available for download. This product helps developers create notification services, which notify users of application-generated events that interest them (such as a change to a flight departure time). Such notification services can help organizations rapidly and automatically communicate time-sensitive information to customers, employees, or partners.

For more detailed information, see “New Notification Services to Enhance SQL Server 2000” on page 9 of the July 2002 Update.

Two Editions Available

In a change from the beta program, Microsoft has decided to release SQL Server Notification Services (SSNS) in Standard and Enterprise Editions.

Standard Edition is targeted at scenarios in which the volume of events and notifications is small enough so that a single server hosting both SQL Server and SSNS can handle the full workload. Standard Edition has processing limitations, such as limited concurrent threads and the ability to process only one batch of notifications at a time. It also cannot perform “multicast delivery,” in which a single notification can be distributed to lists of users.