[OhNoMyqueen]

> Cloud backup is a stupid idea.

I don't know what you mean by "cloud", but an off-site backup is essential. Your home can be burglarized, or burnt down, or flooded. Basically anything you insurance covers for your home you should cover regarding your data.

> At any moment it could go dark, for any reason, and you have no recourse.

There is no difference between your backup going dark or your main data source going dark. The whole point is that the data is duplicated and the odds of both of them going dark at the same time is low. This only means that you should check your backup regularly.