Perhaps is a question about DotNetNuke development in general, but..  I'm wanting to build a DNN site and have it hosted.  This is for a business and in-house hosting is not an option. 

Where should I do my development work? 

I thought it would be possible for me to work on a localhost copy of DNN as I built it up to production level.  My current web host (and maybe I need to investigate finding a new one) does not allow users to backup/restore the MSSQL 2000 database (at least using the BACKUP DATABASE command).  So it does not seem wise to try to do development on the shared host, especially since I do build my own modules and occassionally need to restore the website and database.  So working on a localhost copy seems to make sense.

However.. I'm unclear how I'm supposed to get my localhost copy up to the shared host.  I'm pretty sure I could detach the database and send the files to the shared host for them to migrate into their db server.  But I believe my DNN development will be ongoing.  I'll be needing to make changes to the production site without risking its integrity.  So I need some way to pull copies of the database off the shared host to work on in a development environment, and likewise put them back once development is completed. 

Am I on the wrong track?

Are there web hosts that allow users to backup and restore their own db's  (surely there are, I think I found one www.websecurestores.com)?

How are others doing development of business critical dotnetnuke sites w/ shared hosting plans?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Jeff