Can I have 2 different external disks available for time machine back up on Mac Studio. These disks would back up two different external hard drives. Different data would be excluded on each back up.

Well, let's say you have two external disks that you want backups for on two separate time machine formatted disks. Would it not be possible to do like this that you set external disk one to be backed up with backup disk one and exclude all other disks. Then set up external disk 2 to be backed up with backup disk 2 and exclude all other disks? You can add excluded disk to the exclusion list by clicking the +-button in settings and then options in Time Machine.

Well, let's say you have two external disks that you want backups for on two separate time machine formatted disks. Would it not be possible to do like this that you set external disk one to be backed up with backup disk one and exclude all other disks. Then set up external disk 2 to be backed up with backup disk 2 and exclude all other disks? You can add excluded disk to the exclusion list by clicking the +-button in settings and then options in Time Machine.

Time Machine doesn't work that way. You don't choose the source for each destination. The source is the same for both destination drives. With multiple backup drives, Time Machine just alternates which backup drive is used to back up the same information from the Mac.

You would need to use a different backup solution like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperSuper!

Well, it’s right that the source can not be chosen right away, the default includes the drives on the Mac. But by using the minus and plus buttings in settings and then options you can, if you go to the list of drives in Finder not the default ones in Time Machine.

Well, it’s right that the source can not be chosen right away, the default includes the drives on the Mac. But by using the minus and plus buttings in settings and then options you can decide which ones to backup and which ones to not, if you go to the list of drives in Finder not the default ones in Time Machine. You do that and set the two backup disks different.

That doesn’t allow you to have different backup sets. You will still only have one backup set being backed up to two disks. You cannot set one destination to backup one set of data and set the other to backup another set of data.

We can all see your posts regardless of who you reply. You don’t have to repeat everything.

If you are going to use 2 external disks, then it would be smarter to use 1 with Time Machine, and then use the 2nd with another backup utility.

That way you protect yourself from and bugs that may occur in one of the backup utilities.

I use multiple external disks for backup. I use Time Machine on 1. SuperDuper! (paid app) on another, and Carbon Copy Cloner (paid app) on a third.

Carbon Copy Cloner would be the most flexible in its ability to include or exclude files and folder trees you desire. Again, this is a paid app, but it is well respected, widely used and the author used to work for Apple.

SuperDuper! is also well respected, and it has personally saved me many times, when I had a PowerPC based Mac, that kept corrupting my boot disk, back on the 2005-2010 time frame.

I have never been sorry buying either of these apps. I also purchased a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner for my Mom’s Mac.

And Carbon Copy Cloner has the ability to backup over the network to another Mac’s external disk.

And if you are looking for cloud backup, then Arq might be an option.

https://www.arqbackup.com

Not with Time Machine. You can back up to multiple disks, but each disk will be a backup of all of the Mac's drives.