The workflow runtime engine uses many services when a workflow instance runs. Windows Workflow Foundation provides default implementations of the runtime services that meet the needs of many types of applications, such as a persistence service, which stores the execution details of a workflow instance in a SQL database. These service components are pluggable, which allows applications to provide these services in ways that are unique to their execution environment. Other types of services used by the runtime engine include scheduling services, transaction services, and tracking services.

Custom services can be created to extend the Windows Workflow Foundation platform by deriving from the base service classes. An example of this would be a persistence service that uses an XML file instead of a database for storage.

For more information about services, see Windows Workflow Foundation Services and Developing Windows Workflow Foundation Services.

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