Bindings

  • Article

patterns & practices Developer Center

  • What is a binding?
  • What bindings are available?
  • Which bindings are best suited for the Internet?
  • Which bindings are best suited for an intranet?
  • How do I choose an appropriate binding?

What is a binding?

A WCF service endpoint comprises an address, a binding, and a contract. Bindings define how clients can connect and communicate with your service. A binding includes definitions for the WS-* protocols used, the message encoding, and the transport protocol. For instance, wsHttpBinding uses HTTP, XML 1.0 encoding, message security, reliable sessions, and transactions by default. Bindings are exposed by a service endpoint that includes the binding plus a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) to which the client will send messages.

The following is an example of a wsHttpBinding instance that has been configured to use transport security:

<bindings>
  <wsHttpBinding>
    <binding name="wsHttpEndpointBinding">
      <security mode="Transport">
      </security>
    </binding>
  </wsHttpBinding>
</bindings>

The following configuration snippet shows an endpoint that exposes this binding:

    <endpoint address="" binding="wsHttpBinding"
      bindingConfiguration="wsHttpEndpointBinding"
      name="wsHttpEndpoint" contract="IService">

Additional Resources

What bindings are available?

The following table summarizes common bindings:

Binding

Description

customBinding

Allows you to create a custom binding with full control over the message stack.

basicHttpBinding

Represents a binding that configures and exposes endpoints that are able to communicate with ASMX-based Web services and clients and other services that conform to the WS-I Basic Profile 1.1. By default, it has security disabled.

wsHttpBinding

Defines a secure, reliable, interoperable binding suitable for non-duplex service contracts. The binding implements the following specifications: WS-Reliable Messaging for reliability, and WS-Security for message security and authentication. The transport is HTTP, and message encoding is Text/XML encoding. By default, it provides message security with Windows authentication.

ws2007HttpBinding

Defines a secure, reliable, interoperable binding suitable for non-duplex service contracts. The binding implements the following specifications: WS-Reliable Messaging for reliability, and WS-Security for message security and authentication. The transport is HTTP, and message encoding is Text/XML encoding. ws2007HttpBinding provides binding similar to wsHttpBinding but uses the standard for OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards). By default, it provides message security with Windows authentication.

netTcpBinding

Specifies a secure, reliable, optimized binding suitable for cross-machine communication. By default, it generates a run-time communication stack with transport security and Windows authentication as default security settings. It uses the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) for message delivery and uses binary message encoding.

netNamedPipeBinding

Defines a binding that is secure, reliable, and optimized for on-machine cross-process communication. By default, it generates a run-time communication stack with WS-ReliableMessaging for reliability, transport security for transfer security, named pipes for message delivery, and binary message encoding. It is not secured by default.

netMsmqBinding

Defines a queued binding suitable for cross-machine communication.

wsFederationHttpBinding

Defines a binding that supports federated security. wsFederationHttpBinding helps in implementing federation, which is the ability to flow and share identities across multiple enterprises or trust domains for authentication and authorization. WCF implements federation over message and mixed mode security but not over transport security. Services configured with this binding must use the HTTP protocol as transport.

ws2007FederationHttpBinding

Defines a binding that derives from wsFederationHttpBinding and supports federated security. wsFederationHttpBinding helps in implementing federation, which is the ability to flow and share identities across multiple enterprises or trust domains for authentication and authorization. WCF implements federation over message and mixed-mode security but not over transport security. Services configured with this binding must use the HTTP protocol as transport. ws2007FederationHttpBinding provides binding similar to ws2007FederationHttpBinding but uses the OASIS standard.

wsDualHttpBinding

Defines a secure, reliable, and interoperable binding that is suitable for duplex service contracts or communication through SOAP intermediaries.

customBinding

Allows you to create a custom binding with full control over the message stack.

Additional Resources

Which bindings are best suited for the Internet?

  • If you are exposing your WCF service over the Internet to clients that expect a legacy ASMX Web service, use basicHttpBinding. Keep in mind that this binding does not have any security enabled by default, so all messages will be sent in plain text format.
  • If you are exposing your WCF service over the Internet to Windows Forms clients, use wsHttpBinding.
  • If you are exposing your WCF service over an intranet to an ASP.NET application, which in turn is exposed to the clients over the Internet, use netTcpBinding.

Additional Resources

Which bindings are best suited for n intranet?

  • If you are exposing your WCF service over your intranet to clients that expect a legacy ASMX Web service, use basicHttpBinding. Keep in mind that this binding does not have any security enabled by default, so all messages will be sent in plain text format.
  • If you are exposing your WCF service over your intranet to Windows Forms or ASP.NET clients, use netTcpBinding.

Additional Resources

How do I choose an appropriate binding?

If your service needs to support legacy clients that expect an ASMX Web service, consider using basicHttpBinding. Because basicHttpBinding does not implement any security by default, if you require message or transport security, you should configure it explicitly on this binding. Use basicHttpBinding to expose endpoints that are able to communicate with ASMX-based Web services and clients and other services that conform to the WS-I Basic Profile 1.1. When configuring transport security, basicHttpBinding defaults to no credentials just like a classic ASMX Web service. basicHttpBinding allows you to host your service in IIS 5.0 or IIS 6.0.

If your service will be called by WCF clients over the Internet, consider using wsHttpBinding. wsHttpBinding is a good choice for Internet scenarios in which you do not have to support legacy clients that expect an ASMX Web service. If you do need to support legacy clients, consider using basicHttpBinding instead. wsHttpBinding allows you to host your service in IIS 5.0 or IIS 6.0.

If you need to support clients within your intranet, consider using netTcpBinding. netTcpBinding is a good choice for an intranet scenario if transport performance is important to you and it is acceptable to host the service in a Windows service instead of in IIS. netTcpBinding uses the TCP protocol and provides full support for SOAP security, transactions, and reliability. Use this binding when you want to provide a secure and reliable binding environment for .NET-to-.NET cross-machine communication. netTcpBinding does not allow you to host your service in IIS 5.0 or IIS 6.0; instead, host in a Windows service or in IIS 7.0.

If you need to support WCF clients on the same machine as your service, consider using netNamedPipeBinding. This binding provides a secure and reliable binding environment for cross-process, same-machine communication. Use this binding when you want to make use of the NamedPipe protocol and provide full support for SOAP security, transactions, and reliability. netNamedPipeBinding does not allow you to host your service in IIS 5.0 or IIS 6.0; instead, host in a Windows service or in IIS 7.0.

If you need to support disconnected queuing, use netMsmqBinding. Queuing is provided by using Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) as a transport, which enables support for disconnected operations, failure isolation, and load leveling. You can use netMsmqBinding when the client and the service do not have to be online at the same time. You can also manage any number of incoming messages by using load leveling. MSMQ supports failure isolation, where messages can fail without affecting the processing of other messages. netMsmqBinding does not allow you to host your service in IIS 5.0 or IIS 6.0; instead host in a Windows service or in IIS 7.0.

If you need to support a duplex service, use wsDualHttpBinding. A duplex service is a service that uses duplex message patterns, thus providing the ability for a service to communicate back to the client via a callback. You can also use this binding to support communication via SOAP intermediaries. wsDualHttpBinding does not allow you to host your service in IIS 5.0 or IIS 6.0; instead, host in a Windows service or in IIS 7.0.

Additional Resources