Sql Server Notification has been built on a great concept, but there are several gotchas that you need to be careful. Here are some pitfalls that I found:
- Sql Server Notification Services 2005 does not work against a database that runs under Sql 2000 compatibility Mode. You cannot install Sql Server Notification Services 2.0 for MS Sql 2000 against Sql 2005, either.
- You have to be careful about the version of SSNS. You can install SSNS dev edition on MS SQL 2005 enterprise edition and vice versa. But it will not work, and will give you a warning when you actually try to start the SSNS service. It's a bad design -- The installation should've prevented a user from installing a different version of SSNS at the beginning. Mixing a different version is a mistake which is easy to make.
The Sql Server 2005 Books Online and sample codes included in MS Sql 2005 for SSNS are very good. If you're to look for using SSNS, the Books Online and samples are probably the first place to go and examine.
There is a rumor that the next version of SSNS will be removed as a separate product and be consolidated as part of SSRS. Because of the unique benefit of the SSNS, this rumor should not be a major decision to avoid SSNS, though.