This is a simple python script inspired by the bash ‘mysqlbackup’ that I extended to allow exporting the backup to a different location via ftp, as well as using p7zip by default, which gives much better compression than bzip or gzip. Just like mysqlbackup, it creates monthly, weekly, daily backups compromising between being able to return to any specific date and saving space. It also offers options for simpler backup strategies (i.e. saving every day)

My suggested way to use it would be to drop it in cron.daily. It is also important to make it owned by a secure user so that when it stores the temporary dumps they cannot be read by prying eyes.