DB backups from remote server

What is the best way to make backups from a remote host to my hard drive. I don't have command line access so I want to use php. 1) and 2) work on a local database, but not from a remote host, although I am successfully connected. mysqldump only seems to work from the command line. Any ideas? 1) $outfile = "select * into outfile 'table_test.txt' fields terminated by ',' from table_name"; 2) $backup = "BACKUP TABLE table_name TO 'c:/MySQL/backup' "; Thanks in advance, Dennis