.NET supports two types of remote objects (by value and by reference) and three activation models for the later (client-activated, single call, and singleton). Each model and object type has its place. This article explains and contrasts the different models and when to apply them.
by Juval Lowy
March 19, 2003
odern applications are no longer isolated, stand-alone applications, limited to a single process or machine. Distributed applications allow you to put components in close proximity to the resources they use, allow multiple users to access the application, enable scalability and throughput, and increase overall availability and fault isolation. Component-oriented programming is especially geared towards distribution because it is all about breaking the application into a set of interacting components, which you can then distribute to different locations. .NET has a vast infrastructure supporting distributed applications and remote calls. This article focuses on just a single aspect of .NET remoting: the different object activation models available to a distributed application.
Understanding the remote object activation models is key to successfully applying .NET in a distributed environment. .NET offers multiple activation models because modern applications often need to cater to drastically different scalability, throughput and performance requirements, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Consequently, choosing the right activation model is actually the single most critical design decision you will have to make when designing and building a distributed application in .NET. .NET remoting has a lot more to it than just the activation model, but in many respects these are mere programming details. Most of these details make no sense unless you understand the activation models, you know how to chose one, and you learn how to implement the matching components. I will cover other facets of .NET remoting in future articles. My emphasis in this article is on understanding the basic concepts, the tradeoffs they offer, and the practical aspects of the different activation models.
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odern applications are no longer isolated, stand-alone applications, limited to a single process or machine. Distributed applications allow you to put components in close proximity to the resources they use, allow multiple users to access the application, enable scalability and throughput, and increase overall availability and fault isolation. Component-oriented programming is especially geared towards distribution because it is all about breaking the application into a set of interacting components, which you can then distribute to different locations. .NET has a vast infrastructure supporting distributed applications and remote calls. This article focuses on just a single aspect of .NET remoting: the different object activation models available to a distributed application.
