Notify operator task vs. notify if job fails

Question

In a maintenance plan, I can create a Notify Operator task to run on the success or failure of any task in my maintenance plan. There is also the option to notify if an SQL Server Agent job fails, so I can enable this on the job connected to the maintenance plan. What are the pros/cons of each approach? Should I use both approaches?

Answer 1

The task would be appropriate if your maintenance plan continues executing after a specific task fails, i.e. the failure isn't critical and the overall plan execution was still considered successful, but someone should still be informed that one specific task failed.

The job notification is useful for unexpected failures; it's like a 'catch-all' handler for errors that you didn't anticipate and can't or shouldn't handle within the job itself.

So you might want to use both, if it makes sense for your particular case.