The Zend Platform Job Queue is used to make applications more responsive by allowing tasks to be performed on other machines (e.g.: dedicated machine), and scheduling tasks to a future time (usually to low-traffic hours). [...] Job Queue offers both a web-based management UI, and a programmer-oriented rich API, which allows embedding sophisticated logic into applications. This article will demonstrate basic usage of Job Queue, through an imaginary company wesellalot.com.

They start by presenting a scenario where a simple cluster of machines behind a load balancer all work with the same database. Because of some of the tasks they want to perform, things could get overloaded very easily under a high load. Enter the Job Queue and their four step process to integrate it into this setup:

• Step 1: Off Load to a Dedicated Server
• Step 2: Scheduling to low-traffic hours
• Step 3: Breaking down tasks using dependencies
• Step 4: A recurring cleanup job

They also include an explanation as to why this method is preferable over just using croned scripts for the same purpose.