WCF - when should i use netTcpBinding

Question

i usually use HTTP binding at my services.
i read that net.tcp Binding works faster, however i am not quite sure on when should i use it?
what is the best practice, are there any drawbacks?

thanks

Answer 1

The MSDN page for NetTcpBinding says it best

The default configuration for the NetTcpBinding is faster than the configuration provided by the WSHttpBinding, but it is intended only for WCF-to-WCF communication.

So NetTcpBinding is good to use when you have a .NET WCF client and a .NET WCF server, however if you need to support clients that are not written in .NET WCF (for example you are publishing a public service and you don't know what language the client will be written in) then you need to use a HttpBinding instead.

This page has a good quick summary of each type of binding and when they should be used.

• BasicHttpBinding - A binding that is suitable for communicating with WS-Basic Profile conformant Web services, for example, ASP.NET Web services (ASMX)-based services. This binding uses HTTP as the transport and text/XML as the default message encoding.
• WSHttpBinding - A secure and interoperable binding that is suitable for non-duplex service contracts.
• WS2007HttpBinding - A secure and interoperable binding that provides support for the correct versions of the Security, ReliableSession, and TransactionFlow binding elements.
• WSDualHttpBinding - A secure and interoperable binding that is suitable for duplex service contracts or communication through SOAP intermediaries.
• WSFederationHttpBinding - A secure and interoperable binding that supports the WS-Federation protocol, enabling organizations that are in a federation to efficiently authenticate and authorize users.
• WS2007FederationHttpBinding - A secure and interoperable binding that derives from WS2007HttpBinding and supports federated security.
• NetTcpBinding - A secure and optimized binding suitable for cross-machine communication between WCF applications.
• NetNamedPipeBinding - A secure, reliable, optimized binding that is suitable for on-machine communication between WCF applications.
• NetMsmqBinding - A queued binding that is suitable for cross-machine communication between WCF applications.
• NetPeerTcpBinding - A binding that enables secure, multi-machine communication.
• WebHttpBinding - A binding used to configure endpoints for WCF Web services that are exposed through HTTP requests instead of SOAP messages.
• MsmqIntegrationBinding - A binding that is suitable for cross-machine communication between a WCF application and existing Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ) applications.