Whether you use phpMyAdmin, work on your database directly via command line or have access to other tools to manage your MySQL database, there’s usually one thing missing for the times when things go horribly wrong: a quick and easy backup and restore feature.

There’s no predicting when something undesired may happen to the data stored in your MySQL database. It could be as a result of human error, such as updating a whole bunch of records with a value instead of just one, or it could come down to hardware or software issues resulting in corruption of data. Whatever the reason, whilst a lot of hosting companies provide automatic backups of your files and databases, some do not or they only provide you with the facility to do it manually. In terms of accessing automatic backups made by the host, sometimes they can only be retrieved through a support ticket or phone call which can delay getting things back to how they were.

With these issues at the forefront of my mind when I carried out a project recently, I set about searching for a PHP based, Open Source tool that would perform backups of multiple MySQL databases and allow the easy recovery of data if required. My research led me to phpMyBackupPro.

phpMyBackupPro is a feature rich solution that would probably satisfy the demands of the majority of those looking for a MySQL database backup tool. It allows the backup of multiple databases that do not necessarily have to be on the same machine. This is ideal for service providers who want to backup multiple MySQL databases on behalf of more than one client whose hosting is distributed. Generated backup files can automatically be FTP’d to a remote server or sent via email, a critical factor when performing backups to safeguard against data loss if the server itself breaks down completely. An easy to use interface is provided for browser based management, but there is also the option of administering it via command line which ultimately means that it can be scheduled in cron or as a system service to operate automatically, thus meaning you do not have to remember to set it off however often you wish to perform a backup.

For a full list of features and to download a copy, visit the phpMyBackupPro web site.

This post is tagged: backup, mysql, Open Source, PHP