I don't see a problem with uploading an image of your HDD to the cloud if it's fully encrypted. What's going to happen? Unless someone comes and beats the passphrase out of you, your data is safe. You're not a billionaire they want to blackmail or steal from, and nobody is going to even try to brute force your 256 bit Twofish encrypted HDD image, much less succeed.
It's a good idea to have an off-site backup, however you manage that. It could just be a HDD in a safe deposit box or a remote server you leave running at your parents' house. Keeping a HDD in a waterproof bag in a fire safe is good enough, really.
What if your house burns down or someone breaks in and steals your electronics? If your only backup was a HDD sitting on the desk next to your laptop, well, fuck.
I don't do anything really serious with my computers right now, so I'm not too worried. I like to keep a full HDD image so if my hard disk shits itself I can just swap in the new drive and keep going, but I've been lazy about that lately. In the future when I'm doing actual important shit on computers, like making my living, I'm going to have a fairly elaborate backup scheme in place.
It's a good idea to have an off-site backup, however you manage that. It could just be a HDD in a safe deposit box or a remote server you leave running at your parents' house. Keeping a HDD in a waterproof bag in a fire safe is good enough, really.
What if your house burns down or someone breaks in and steals your electronics? If your only backup was a HDD sitting on the desk next to your laptop, well, fuck.
I don't do anything really serious with my computers right now, so I'm not too worried. I like to keep a full HDD image so if my hard disk shits itself I can just swap in the new drive and keep going, but I've been lazy about that lately. In the future when I'm doing actual important shit on computers, like making my living, I'm going to have a fairly elaborate backup scheme in place.