DEVONthink Backup - best strategy?

DEVONthink
1

After my Mac crashed and I had to repair all of my databases which were open during the crash I am thinking about a better backup strategy for my databases as an addition to TimeMachine. I came up with the following idea for a daily backup:

  • at 00:00 wake up the Mac and close DEVONthink (if still open) via Shell Script
  • let Arq backup my DEVONthink database folder and the library/Application Support/DEVONthink folder
  • set the Mac back to sleep via Shell Script

Additionally TimeMachine backups the Mac including the DEVONthink files hourly.

Any ideas if this is a good concept?

2

I don’t see any particular flaw in it, though I hope you’re shutting down and/or rebooting your Mac at least once a week.

3

Thanks for the note. I rarely ever shut down the Mac. Maybe it’s a good idea to do so once on the weekend.

4

In the software world, it’s a bit of mythology that support uses “Reboot the device” as a lazy way to avoid figuring out what’s wrong. Rebooting actually can keep things running better: releasing memory, shutting down stalled or rogue processes, clearing temp files, etc. We consider it a preventative measure and advocate it on Mac and mobile.

And I have years of experience with replies of “Huh! It works after I rebooted.” (including instances of my own).

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5

I use Arq along with TimeMachine
Why complicate it with the Mac wake/sleep?

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6

No complications intended. Reason is: the Mac crashed while DEVONthink was running with the databases that couldn’t be opened after the crash and rebuild of the Mac. So I needed to have a safe backup with all DEVONthink databases closed, which is mostly the case while the Mac is asleep. So I wake up the Mac at midnight, close DEVONthink if it is running and backup the databases I use all the time. When backup is finished I put the Mac to sleep again.

7

My understanding is both TimeMachine and Arq use snapshot processing
and there is no requirement to close the databases

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