I'm working on my automated backup solution. I was thinking that to get around the compresion issue, you guys can provided an API call that receives a file name and it compresses the file on the server. Some of us need to keep backups off site and it becomes a problem if the DBs get large. Just a thought.
DASP could provide a feature like that but even if they dont, zipping a file on the server is something you can do yourself; I know its possible because I've implemented it myself in my own backup app with SharpZipLib
We thought about adding the ability to zip the backup but this requires a rather large overhaul of the API. Currently, the API call for DBBackup is synchronous. Zipping a file can take a while and doesn't really work for DB that is large. If you notice, if you do a backup in the control panel, the process is asynchronous and thus we can provide the ability to zip the file. We are considering switching the DB back method into an async process but it is a rather large project.
CrystalCMS, I have read your post and that will be my next option. My app runs on a remote machine, your solution requires a companion app to run on the DASP server. Not terribly hard to do but the folks at DASP can probably do it with less difficulty. Thanks for the suggestion, I would like to see your code if you are willing to share. Bruce, do not abandon the API project it really helps to manage our sites.
The location detailed in this thread is old and broken - I'm trying to get the thread reopened so I can update it with a new url. In the meantime you can download the original source code for review from here. I've been using this successfully on my DASP account for a few years, however this source code is made available completely without any warranty or support. Feel free to do whatever you want with it.
Thx. I have a windows service that does about the same (with some FTP functionality). I now need to create my own "API WCF Service" to zip my backup before I get it. Again thanks for the help
If you guys are still wanting some better SQL Server backup support via the API can I suggest you look for threads from DonRox and +1 the long one I have open. Last updated Dec 31, 2013. If we quietly accept the excuses for not updating this valuable feature, it will never get updated. I we keep asking for a better SQL server backup API, DASP will notice us. They may still ignore us but it will be harder.
I think this is the thread you're talking about. If so I've read it and to be honest I have to admit that I don't fully understand the problem you have. It seems to be something to do with a "Database exceeds maximum backup size" error probably when attempting to use the control panel API but it's not completely clear to me. I do know there are some limits in place with respect to performing SQL database backups via the control panel API but I've never found this feature to be completely useless / unusable and in the past I have been able to find ways to work around the limitations imposed. If you really do want to rally some coherent support for an improved control panel API feature, I respectfully suggest you put effort into clearly explaining the problem you're experiencing, ensuring you include details of any limitations you've found. It might also be useful to start a new thread for your campaign here which is where these sort of requests are best posted - loosely referencing related threads by date and username won't help your cause. It could be that your use case is edge case / perhaps not. It can only help if you're able to clearly describe the problem - if you do that you might find other people around here do actually share your problem.
If you feel you've been ignored on the subject, I don't know what else to say. I can certainly ignore your continued backhanded insults, but you should know that they don't really inspire me to spend any more time talking to you about the subject.
