time machine, back ups, sync, etc. HELP

[mejosp]

Can someone help please.  I just need some clarifications and i can't find anybody to give me straight answers.
I have macbook air.  i keep all photos, files on external HD.  i back up with time machine.  if HD not plugged into laptop, time machine shows no back up for that. if i plug it in, i can see my backup files.  I thought the idea of time machine was if something happened to my HD, (lost, etc) i would still have my files .  So why does it need to be plugged in then?  What i want to do is put another whole set of what is on my HD onto a cloud or something and it be exactly the same as my HD and be updated as i update my HD.  What do i use?  cloud?  back up service?  sync?   I keep researching and never find an answer, i just get more confused. 

[jenno]

You're basically right about needing to create an additional cloud backup. Time machine basically just automates the process of backing up the contents of your Macbook's HD to your external drive - it doesn't create an off-site copy. One option is to keep using Time Machine in the same way, and then use a cloud service separately (iCloud, Google Drive, etc.). I'm fairly sure there are products out there that will do both automatically, at the same time though, i.e. local drive storage and cloud backup. If you search for cloud and local backup, I'm sure you'll find one. It will come at a cost though!