The SitePoint PHP blog has a new post looking at using message queues in PHP. More specifically it compares a few of the different solutions out there and their advantages/disadvantages - Beanstalkd, IronMQ and the Amazon SQS.

This article introduces the concept of message queues and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of three specific message queue services: Beanstalkd, IronMQ and Amazon SQS. [...] Queues allow you to store metadata for processing jobs at a later date. They can aid in the development of SOA (service-oriented architecture) by providing the flexibility to defer tasks to separate processes. When applied correctly, queues can dramatically increase the user experience of a web site by reducing load times.

He starts with some of the overall benefits and downfalls of using a queueing system in your application, including some common use cases. From their he breaks it up into sections, in each talking about the option and how it differs from the others:

• Services
• Server setup
• Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
• Architecture
• Client libraries
• Management interface
• Redundancy
• Security
• Speed
• Fidelity
• One-time pickup

...and many, many more. If you're looking for a good, complete overview of how these three options compare on a wide range of features and configurations, definitely check out this post. It even includes some PHP close to the end to make the connections to each and send/receive messages.