Managing Windows Azure queues
A Windows Azure Queue Service queue provides a way to decouple the connection between two roles, so that one role can request another role to perform some task. The producing role inserts into the queue a message containing the details of the request. The consuming role polls the queue and, on getting the message, performs the associated task. If necessary, the consuming role can insert a message in another queue indicating the completion of the task.
A more general view is that the Queue service provides a way to manage the processing of a task, so that it is more robust against failure. Windows Azure is a scalable system and it is possible that a component of the system could fail at any time, causing the loss of any work in progress. The extent of this loss can be minimized by breaking the task into individual steps. The loss of work-in-progress for an individual step is less significant than that of the overall task. The Queue service supports this functionality...
