Implementing Reliable Sessions

As you saw in Table 5.1, WCF does have support for WS-Reliable Messaging. The implementation of this functionality for scenarios in which both endpoints are online is referred to as Reliable Sessions.

Reliable Sessions provide end-to-end reliability between endpoints. Because the specification provides support at the message level, messages can reliably traverse multiple intermediaries on its way from endpoint A to endpoint B, and they may travel via various transport protocols.

Adding WCF SOAP Reliable Messaging to a WCF Project

Support for reliable messaging begins with creating an endpoint that supports a reliable session. WCF ships with six predefined bindings that support reliable messaging, as well as the capability to add reliability in custom bindings.

Of the out-of-the-box bindings that support reliable messaging, three of themwsDualHttpBinding, NetNamedPipeBinding, and MsmqIntegrationBindinghave reliability enabled by default.

The complete list of bindings that support reliable messaging can be seen in Table 5.2.

Table 5.2. Reliability Support in WCF's Preconfigured Bindings

Binding	Supports Reliable Messaging	Reliability Enabled in Binding by Default
WSDualHttpBinding	X	X
NetNamedPipeBinding	X	X
MsmqIntegrationBinding	X	X
WSHttpBinding	X
WSFederationBinding	X
NetTcpBinding	X