How to use threading to perform background tasks in ASP.NET?

Question

In my ASP.NET website, I am having a function which has to be automatically performed once every 2-3 mins on its own, i.e. without user intervention. This function contains database access.

Can I use threading to perform this process in background?

If yes, how can I use that? Any reference to tutorials would be really helpful.

Edit

Also I am not looking for a solution which uses Windows Services because I am using shared hosting. So I don't have all the rights to access the host computer.

would it be easier to just have a scheduled task hit a url via curl or similar? — Marc Gravell, Jan 29 '11 at 12:56
Sometimes the shared hosting environment provides a task scheduler, available through the control panel of your hosting account. — Ron Klein, Jan 29 '11 at 13:35

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 29 '11 at 12:56

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I'd imagine it would be easier and more efficient to do it using the task scheduler. Or perhaps even a service.

answered Jan 29 '11 at 12:56

Matti Virkkunen

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It depends on the hosting environment. On shared hosting, for example, you may not have such tools. – Ron Klein Jan 29 '11 at 13:02
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@Ron Klein: In that case I'd suggest the guy stops using cheapo hosting that doesn't even let him do what he needs to do. You're supposed to choose your tools based on the task, are you not? – Matti Virkkunen Jan 29 '11 at 13:04
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@Matti Virkkunen: sometimes you don't want to "lose" a client and you have to be creative... it's not that simple. – Ron Klein Jan 29 '11 at 13:07
@Ron: I'm here mainly for programming, not business. – Matti Virkkunen Jan 29 '11 at 13:11
I have edited my question. Check the `EDIT` portion of my Question – Parth Bhatt Jan 29 '11 at 13:30
@PARTH: Please see my first comment. – Matti Virkkunen Jan 29 '11 at 13:31
@Matti, it's the business that pays our salary, is it not? – Ron Klein Jan 29 '11 at 13:32
@Ron: Yes, however I'm not getting paid a salary for spending time on Stack Overflow. – Matti Virkkunen Jan 29 '11 at 13:34

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

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Take a look at this: How to use Quartz.net with ASP.NET

edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

Community

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answered Jan 29 '11 at 13:01

Ron Klein

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(IMHO) "Just because you can doesn't mean you should." ... You could just as easily hook up a thread start in your ASPX-solution. The problem is that it breaks with convention. I'd hate to be the sysadmin that maintains a project where programmers do stuff like this. :) – Tedd Hansen Jan 29 '11 at 13:06
I have edited my question. Check the `EDIT` portion of my Question – Parth Bhatt Jan 29 '11 at 13:33

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 18 '21 at 12:39

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I'd suggest to read interesting blog post by Jeff - Easy Background Tasks in ASP.NET and some stackoverflow threads:

To create a worker thread and keep it alive throughout my application life time to perform some back ground tasks
Best way to run a background task in ASP.Net web app and also get feedback ?

edited Jan 18 '21 at 12:39

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answered Jan 29 '11 at 13:07

KV Prajapati

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 29 '11 at 13:02

You can in theory do this, but it is wrong in so many ways. First of all the threads must be started by someone visiting the page, second you have no warranty on how long the threads will live before some condition causes them to stop. Main thumb of rule: Don't use threads in ASP.Net.

The correct way of doing this is as @Matti mentions either by task scheduler or service. In addition if these tasks are SQL-related you may want to schedule a task on the SQL-server instead.

But... There is a quick-fix. When a user visits the page, first check how long since last maintenance and then simply perform the maintenance up-front if required. The user may get a few ms/seconds extra delay on the first request, but you don't have to mess up your solution with a separate windows service or scheduled task.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 29 '11 at 14:39

Create a little executable program that you can put on a client machine. Put that on the task scheduler to run every few minutes. When it runs, have it hit a webpage in your web app that does what you need to do.

The problem with what you're trying to do on the server is that if nobody hits the app for a while, it won't run. Since you don't have scheduling on the server, you're stuck with some very ugly hacks on the server or using scheduling somewhere else (like on a client).

How to use threading to perform background tasks in ASP.NET?

5 Answers5