Encrypting SQL Server 2005 Backups

There just doesn’t seem to be an elegant way to encrypt SQL Server 2005 backups. It certainly isn’t a built-in option and I’ve been spending time this week trying to think up something “elegant” to accomplish this.

Allow me to share today’s journey with you.

First Take

Many moons ago I didn’t bother with encrypting my database backups.

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Live SkyDrive -- Multiple File Uploading

Updated: You might be interested in SkyDrive Explorer for multiple file uploading.

This past week I saw quite a few tech and blog articles getting giddy about the new Windows Live SkyDrive changes –especially about the 5GB of free storage included. Sounds great doesn’t it?

A free 5GB to store stuff is pretty compelling and, as

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More Dabbling with File Compression Types

Continuing my research into a fast and effective compression option for large files (see part 1), I’ve stumbled over some surprising numbers. My hope is this stuff will help me at a later date when I revisit this topic — and hopefully it’ll help someone else too. Since I’m a sharer, here is

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7-Zip: Compression vs. Speed

Earlier this year I had discovered the joys of running 7-Zip with the multi threaded support. At the time, I saw some incredible time savings. Since then, however, the files being compressed have gotten much larger and I’m back to some inordinately long compression runs.

As a quick refresher, 7-Zip is an open source file

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Testing New WordPress Versions Part 2: Data

This is Part 2 of a multi-part series of posts discussing how I test new major releases of WordPress before upgrading my “live” sites. The first step got us rolling with a XAMPP install .  This step will tackle copying the database from our live site to our local test site.  Subsequent articles will discuss

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