I needed to backup a small MySQL database, wanted something robust, simple and free, previously I used a hacked together shell script which ran via cron.

I briefly tried a few of the offerings out there, I then I came across Zmanda Recovery Manager [ZRM] for MySQL, it’s really simple to configure, has a scheduler, emails you reports and has a lot of other goodies you can configure, it really was simple and easy.

I just followed the very good guide here, and all credit goes to the original author.

http://www.zmanda.com/quick-mysql-backup.html