Is there any risk to use a Timer for a recurent task?

Question

I need to have a task run at least once every day (at some hour).
The user should be able to force the task to run whenever he feels like.
If the task can't run because the website is down,it's not a big deal.

At first I was thinking about creating a service, that the website register to.
Later on the service call back the website to force the task to run.
(That might be my php developer's experience talking)

Then I though it might just be overkill since a (pseudo)timer started in ApplicationStart could do the trick.
But then, am I mistaking? Are there risks proceeding this way?

In a web environment, very definitely yes. Don't do it. Delegate to a service, yes. [How should I perform a long running task in ASP.NET?](http://stackoverflow.com/a/5553048/263681) — Grant Thomas, Jul 02 '13 at 07:36

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 02 '13 at 07:49

Create a WCF Service which can be invoked from the Web Site. In the WCF Service, it will again call an Windows Service which can handle long running task in its own thread. The Windows Serviec should have the mechanism to re-execute if something goes wrong and the same can be updated to a Custom Database table.

Is there any risk to use a Timer for a recurent task?

1 Answers1