I’ve found many MySQL backup solutions but none of them seem to be perfect in my eyes. (Hey, what is perfect these days?)

DESKTOP APPS

There’s Backup Watcher for MySQL but a) it costs $$ and b) you have to “activate” the software in order to use it. For someone like myself – who is constantly reformatting the various machines on which I work – that’s far too annoying given that you have to wait for a new activation code from the company. Of course, if you’re just gonna set this up on a server or desktop that you touch maybe once every three years – it may very well be worth it. Setting up automated backups is fool-proof and the interface isn’t too archaic. Plus, support usually responds within one business day – even if they aren’t that fluent in the English language.

One benefit to the above app is that it runs on Windows. For me, at least, that makes administration much easier. Another such app is Auto Backup for MySQL. (I’ll try and download and install this to post a review here soon.) This one also costs money (still less than $100) but the fact that it appears to be continually updated – it’s now Windows 7 and Server 2008 compatible – puts my mind at ease.

For more advanced MySQL DB management, you might also look at Navicat for MySQL – an all-in-one mgmt app that not only enables scheduled database backups but also provides you with options to interact with the data itself as well as the overall structure of the database. Pricing is much better than I remember. You can probably stay close to the price-range of the apps mentioned above and wind up with many more features at the same time. Plus, the interface is quite a bit more polished than the other apps.

WEB-BASED SCRIPTS

A more universal option (for those on different platforms beyond Windows) is a self-install script like Backup2Mail… which costs absolutely nothing. (The song “Born Free” from the last episode of the first season of Dexter is now running through my mind.)

Scripts like this one reside on your server, alongside your MySQL install, and regularly emails you backups of your database(s). The company recommends that you use a secure email environment given the risk involved in sending potentially-confidential data through email.

AutoMySQLBackup is a free script that’s been around for a while. Much like Backup2Mail, this script enables scheduled backups via the web but, with this one, you can not only send backups by email but also dump them to a directory on your web server. That way, if you’ve got the available space, you never need worry about the size of your DB backups.

What backup solution are you using/do you recommend? Let other readers know in the comments below.

The uniqueness at play here is that it finally provides SharePoint novices an easy way to extend the platform without fumbling around in areas with which they might be unfamiliar. (i.e., system files, DLLs, stsadm, etc.)

The product isn’t cheap by any means ($4K) but if you’re already using SharePoint server in the enterprise, chances are, you’re probably used to big budget line items. You can explore both the AppEngine and the CorasWorks app store on their site at corasworks.com.

The new feature also allows a server admin to manage the machine (think Automatic Updates and Group Policy settings) without forcing the user to login to the VPN.

DirectAccess is said to be secure but the first question that popped into my head was: “yeah, but how secure…?” (After all, it is Microsoft we’re talking about and VPNs are put in place for a reason.) According to Microsoft, “DirectAccess helps ensure that organizations can meet regulatory and privacy mandates for security and data protection for assets that must roam beyond the corporate network.”

So, I suppose by limiting the types of data that a remote user can access, you can provide a better security experience… as opposed to just granting access to pretty much anything on the network.

What say you, faithful readers? Leave your comments below…

In the meantime, here’s a little more information regarding the type of security in use with DA:

“DirectAccess uses IPsec for authentication and encryption. Optionally, you can require smart cards for user authentication. DirectAccess integrates with NAP to require that DirectAccess clients must be compliant with system health requirements before allowing a connection to the DirectAccess server. IT administrators can configure the DirectAccess server to restrict the servers that users and individual applications can access.”

(Image courtesy of 4sysops.com)

Here’s just a few of the benefits to the software listed on the official SP Designer site:

• Automate business processes such as document approval, custom event notification, and other collaboration tasks with the Workflow Designer.
• Create reporting and tracking applications using data views and forms to easily gather and aggregate data from outside your site and from SharePoint lists and document libraries on the Web site.
• Get started fast with pre-built Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Application Templates, which are fully customizable and extensible using Office SharePoint Designer 2007.
• Extend your solutions by building advanced interactive Microsoft ASP.NET pages. Insert and edit controls with the same powerful activity menus and control property grid previously found only in development tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.

Check out the SharePoint Designer 2007 download page to grab your copy. (You need to register first. No biggie.) Of course, you can also still purchase it for $259 if you’d like. It’ll, um, help the economy.

Typically, these things just don’t make a big difference at all but there are some big changes in store with the arrival of the “Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 February 2009 Cumulative Update.”

Performance for “startup, shutdown, general responsiveness and folder or view switches” are four areas that are said to be dramatically improved in this update. Currently, the hotfix is available as a standalone download but will eventually be included in the forthcoming Service Pack 2 for Office 2007.

[via msexchangeteam.com]

In the case of the latter, Sysinternals Live, all you need to do is simply point WSCC to live.sysinternals.com and the program will provide you direct GUIfied access to every Sysinternals utility… and not a single one of them will require installation on your computer. (Let me add that this is *very* convenient, as you might imagine.)

In addition to the Sysinternals suite, WSCC can also provide an all-in-one GUI wrapper for the Nirsoft suite of utilities. All told, this tool will give you easy access to nearly 240 incredibly useful tools.

This really will be a miracle tool and, who knows, perhaps the next version of Windows will allow you to specify which monitors to use (if you’re using more than two) for a remote desktop connection.

In addition, RDC within Windows 7 also supports the functionality that was recently announced for Windows Server 2008 R2: Remote Desktop Services [Bink.nu] including support for the new Remote Desktop Gateway service.

What is the Remote Desktop Gateway? Basically, the port used to create a connection between your computer and a remote computer (port 3389) isn’t as secure as you might think. The Remote Desktop Gateway enables you to use port 443 (SSL) for remote desktop connections coming into your facility.

From the Windows 7 help file on the subject:

A Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) server is a type of gateway that enables authorized users to connect to remote computers on a corporate network from any computer with an Internet connection. RD Gateway uses the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) along with the HTTPS protocol to help create a more secure, encrypted connection.

In earlier versions of Remote Desktop Connection, people couldn’t connect to remote computers across firewalls and network address translators because port 3389—the port used for Remote Desktop connections—is typically blocked to enhance network security. However, an RD Gateway server uses port 443, which transmits data through a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) tunnel.

The Bink.nu article to which I linked a few paragraphs ago has a fantastic overview of the new Remote Desktop Services.

[Update] If you’re in the enterprise environment (or even if you’re not) and you’re interested in tinkering with the new Remote Desktop Services functionality, you can download the new Windows Server 2008 beta (also introduced on Friday) or read more about the R2 beta release on Microsoft’s TechNet site. [/update]

With a possible release date of nearly 6 months away, why announce a service pack so early? A desire to “increase transparency and visibility into the Office servicing model” is the official reason and it falls in line with the concept behind the Engineering Windows 7 official blog. It looks like Microsoft is finally learning that there’s plenty of feedback to gather from a world full of eager testers/customers.

So, what’s expected with this service pack release? In addition to a focus on interoperability, including enhanced support for ODF, XPS and PDF, you can also expect to see:

• Outlook performance and reliability enhancements
• improved Excel charting functionality
• the ability to add animation to SmartArt graphics in PowerPoint
• “a tool that enables the uninstall of Office client service packs”

Not exactly everything you were hoping for/dreaming of? The post goes on to state that individual product teams (think Excel, Outlook, OneNote, etc.) will soon be announcing more specific enhancements that you’ll be seeing with the release of SP2.

In addition, a private beta test of the service pack will be released to selected individuals in the coming week.

There are two plans currently available: individual access (dubbed “Outlook with Mobile”) with 2GB of storage for $9.99/mo and group access (dubbed “Group Outlook with Mobile”) with 20GB storage space for $56.99/mo.  The latter enables up to 5 users and both plans come with Outlook 2007 for each user to use on your desktop or laptop (MS Licensing may even permit both but don’t quote me on that).  Here’s a snippet of Microsoft’s official press release:

“GoDaddy.com Inc., the world’s largest domain registrar and largest hosting provider in North America, and Microsoft Corp. today announced that GoDaddy.com is delivering mobile and group e-mail plans with Microsoft Outlook, powered by Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) improve worker productivity and communications regardless of physical location. The new e-mail plans from GoDaddy.com, including Personal Outlook, Outlook with Mobile, and Group Outlook with Mobile, give SMBs the ability to manage all of their online services from one place.”

GoDaddy certainly isn’t the first to offer hosted Exchange plans but they are a company you’re almost certain to see around tomorrow (although you can’t be too sure now) and that’s definitely something to consider when it comes to your email. You can find plenty of other hosted Exchange providers by just doing a Web search for “hosted Exchange plans.”

Microsoft Exchange, in my humble opinion, offers a much more pleasant and stable experience than, for instance, IMAP with Gmail.  (I can’t quite emphasize “stable” enough.)

Plus, of all the services you should be paying money for, email might just be one of the ones you should consider – especially given how critical it can be sometimes.  I mean, you wouldn’t want to find yourself, oh – I don’t know, locked out of your email account with no sign of support whatsoever… would you?

Taglocity, for those of you that don’t know, is a simple add-in designed to allow for “tagging” of emails, tasks, appointments, etc. in an effort to make organization of those items in Microsoft’s infamous email client a little easier. 

I’m personally a big fan so I was a bit troubled when I received a message this morning stating that my beta software had expired.  After downloading the most up-to-date version from taglocity.com, I was presented with a few big changes.  The two biggest changes in the new release are the “Taglocity Task Pane” and “Conversation View.” 

The first big change, the task pane, is where the Xobni reference comes into play.  The task pane, much like in Xobni, is displayed to the right of the message you’re reading and is an area where you can view snapshot information in regards to the individual who sent you the message.  (e.g., recently exchanged messages, files exchanged with the sender, number of emails to/from, etc.)  Those of you who currently use Xobni know exactly what I’m talking about.  In fact, here’s a visual comparison of the two:

(Click on the image for a larger view.)

To clarify,  I’m not saying that Taglocity has blatantly ripped Xobni off or anything because I think the new task pane fits perfectly into the features that they’ve been building up over the last few versions: groups/networking.

The other new feature, conversation view, is exactly what you might expect.  Clicking the conversation view button on the Taglocity toolbar brings up a quick window that neatly displays all of the messages related to the same subject.  It seems to work perfectly and is a great replacement to Outlook’s “Find Related Messages” which inevitably takes a while to pull up.  (Xobni also has this feature but it’s a little too slow for me.)

If you’ve yet to give Taglocity a try, you can sign up for the beta at Taglocity.com but I’d personally recommend reading about what all the software has to offer prior to doing so.  It’s designed to do more than just “tag” messages – although, admittedly, that’s primarily what I use it for – so far.  Also, a recent post on Taglocity’s blog also gives some great insight on what the company desires to achieve with its flagship product: “Saving Email – A Brief History.”