Testing for retrievability: For CCC, I don’t think I ever had a problem retrieving anything. Likewise for Backblaze. Two or three decades ago it wasn’t so, files would sometimes come back corrupted, esp. jpeg and tiff
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I tried Time Machine when I first started using Macs but, as others have said, reliability was a factor in that I would get failures, having to start over due to issues, etc.
CCC and Arq have never failed me, unless it’s something I’ve done wrong 
One point about WD Passport drives; they are special drive SKU’s where the data and power interface is USB on the hard drive circuit board. They do not end in a normal SATA connector and a separate USB to SATA board.
What that means is if the USB connector dies, there isn’t a way to get the data off the drive unless you can find the exact USB jack and a good technician to change the jack. Not many companies will reveal their internal part number lists.
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very interesting to know, thanks!
I do not recommend my current back-up process, which I imagine will inspire winces to many in this thread, but I wanted to add a tip which I think makes Time Machine more “usable”.
I only started backing up when I started using DT last year (everything was in various clouds before that). I used Time Machine because it’s built in to Mac already, and an external hard drive (WD 2TB Elements). Time Machine and the blooming external drive ran somewhat constantly and it was VERY ANNOYING, so for the sake of my sanity I had to change the workflow. I downloaded TimeMachineEditor, which others have mentioned here. You can set it to run at specific intervals, but
a) it assumes your Mac will be switched on and the hard drive installed at that time, and
b) that DT will be closed.
Since the hard drive gurgles away when plugged in, I don’t leave it plugged in to my Mac when it’s not in use.
Someone commented somewhere in this forum that they think DT backups have been unusable in the past because DT was open when Time Machine took its backup. (This may or may not be true but I took it on board!)
I’ve used TimeMachineEditor to disable all backups. Every morning when I start work, I plug in my external drive, and manually run Time Machine (it has an icon in the top right of Mac screens so this takes 2 clicks to start). It takes 15 mins - 30 mins (I don’t really pay attention), and in that time DT is closed (most apps are) and I’m just checking emails, reading messages, organising my to-do list, thinking about life. After a while I check Time Machine (clicking the icon in the top right corner), and if it finished I eject my drive and that’s it for the day. I could of course do this at lunch, before I shut down for the day, etc. Morning works for me as I’m much better at following routines in the morning.
This way, I’m backed up, but I don’t have Time Machine running constantly and I don’t have an annoying external drive making noise (also I don’t have to remember to unplug it carefully if I want to move my laptop somewhere else!).
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If that suits your habit and works for you, it sounds good to me. I do one backup per day as well. However if I’m working on something especially critical I can always initiate another backup manually, if needed.
wince 
OK, more seriously, I see some benefits in your routine. I am not entirely sure backups of open DT databases are unusable, though. But I did have issues migrating previously open databases between computers.
@BLUEFROG Jim, would it be a best practice to always close all dbs before backing up - if so, the same would apply to CCC, no?
I mean, I could add a “Close databases, quit Devonthink” action to CCC.
I think this is somewhat preferential, though IIRC @cgrunenberg suggests it and he’s more authoritative than I. Also, since TM and CCC are doing snapshot-style backups (not APFS snapshot, but backing up from a singular point in time), I generally don’t worry about what I’m doing once it’s started its backup in the background.
That being said, I don’t purposely close the databases when I do my backup. However, I have also scheduled my backup at a time where my Macs are on and connected to the backup volume but DEVONthink isn’t in active use. So while DEVONthink and its databases may not be closed, they are also not busy doing anything.
This is why I have data backups and where I get the data if/when the drive fails
What a thread! Great ideas!
Does anyone have an opinion on this one: G-DRIVE™ SSD | Western Digital
Planned use: 1TB SSD Drive, which would be kept connected to my M1 MBA to keep my actively used DT Databases and other frequently accessed files. Is keeping it plugged a safe practice?
I have a WD My Book for Mac, which I would connect on a weekly basis for backups.
Thanks!!!
WD disk boxes are crap. Please, don’t use them because you will regret it. They always have firmware issues and end losing all your data.
As WD disks are very good, you can buy the disk and put in a standard box, but don’t use their enclosures.
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Thanks for the heads up. Any recommended enclosure for the disk I want to keep plugged in? I was looking at this one https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/envoy-express/thunderbolt-3
Thanks!
You linked to a OWC envoy express Thunderbolt 3 enclosure for M.2 SSDs. This enclosure supports transfer speed up to approximately 1.5 GB/s (heavily depending of file size - which is normal). I use it with a 2 TB SSD since May (this year) as permanently attached drive for time machine. No problems so far, I’m satisfied
The good thing of the slow max speed, compared to others, is that the SSD does not get hot.
To be safe (safer) against cyber attacks I additionally have drives I only connect to my iMac to make a weekly or monthly backup.
Please look in the forum for "backup strategy).
If a M.2 SSD is useful for you depends on how much storage you need. 8 TB SSDs are availabe, but they cost more than 600 Euro actually.
Hope that helps 
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Great to hear your experience. Did you buy it with OWC disks or just the enclosure and went with a different disk (which one?)?
Thank you!
I bought this: Crucial P5 Plus CT2000P5PSSD8 2TB Solid State Laufwerk (PCIe 4.0, 3D NAND, NVMe, M.2), bis zu 6600MB/s, Schwarz
both parts on Amazon
I have a seven year old 1TB WD EasyStore drive that’s running like a champ… in the original enclosure
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Then you are an incredibly lucky guy, because each WD enclosure I’ve used, from my BookStudio II to last one (that I don’t remember the model, simply removed the disks and after smashing the enclosure in tiny parts, throwed into dust bin), and any other WD my friends had, all of them ended losing data due firmware issues.
I guess all this just points out the randomness of external drives, connected by wires, having some probability of failure … justifying why even the external drives need to have secure, reliable, and test-able backups to somewhere else.
Over the years I also have seen external drives fail, more often than internal drives. Nature of the beast. I would not count on the brand being the main indicator of riskiness, but I accept some brands have reputations which may or may not remain constant. But even brands hide the actual manufacturers, so what you going to do? ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I’m using SSD externals now, mainly just for backup. Great for making backups while travelling.
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I purchased one of these about a year ago that was DOA. So these are on my blacklist. YMMV!
For drive recommendaitons I have started following: Choosing a backup drive | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software
Have used that list for spinning hard drives, and have used a number of the Oyen ones. So far, so good (only about 1 year in) – but very noisy (the higher the capaicty the noisier, it seems). A layer of rubberized material underneath helps.
For SSDs I’ve been doing WD blues (SATA as well as M.2), and M.2 Samsungs, and Sabrents. So far so good, but agaain, only about a year in.
For thunderbolt SSD M.2 enclosures I’ve used the Shell Thunder ones with good results (that’s been about two years now, still going, have purchased two-three more since). For SSD SATA disks, I’ve used an Oyen USB-C enclosure (about two years now, still going, have purchased two-three more since).
I have purchased a number of OWC items but have stopped purchasing their disks and enclosures (IMHO they are overpriced and under-performant; I also had a spinning disk in a fancy metal enclosure fail within two months). I continue to purchase their other hardware (docks, batteries).
HTH…
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Great suggestions. Thanks!