Should I use a workflow service rather than having my workflow as part of the ASP.NET web app?

Question

We are developing a Silverlight app with long-running workflows that need to be persisted, tracked and versioned. Should we use a workflow service (hosted on AppFabric) or have it as part of the ASP.NET web-app?

Answer 1

That really depends on what you are doing with the workflows. If the Silverlight client is doing all workflow interaction then using a workflow service is the way to go. On the other hand if other parts of you ASP.NET code are working with the workflow hosting them direcetly might be a better option.

Even if you use workflow services you can host them as part of your ASP.NET app, no need to create another app for that. And regardless of where you host things you can use the workflow service both from your Silverlight code as well as from your ASP.NET server side code.