> Cloud backup is a stupid idea. At any moment it could go dark, for any reason, and you have no recourse. Might as well bare your throat and hand some random stranger a razor.
I really disagree - physical storage in your home is the common alternative for a lot of consumer users - and that physical storage will involve maybe unplugging your external hard drive between backups - but otherwise never checking for the consistency and accuracy of the data nor the hardware. If you're working in a data center then it's your job to do these things and it doesn't take very much time... for normal folks cloud backups are likely going to be more reliable.
I really disagree - physical storage in your home is the common alternative for a lot of consumer users - and that physical storage will involve maybe unplugging your external hard drive between backups - but otherwise never checking for the consistency and accuracy of the data nor the hardware. If you're working in a data center then it's your job to do these things and it doesn't take very much time... for normal folks cloud backups are likely going to be more reliable.