title: Can a local Git clone be considered a complete backup of the repo it was cloned from?
body: <p>Suppose I have cloned a Git repository to my local disk using:</p>
  
  <pre><code>git clone username@git.example.com:someproject.git
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Now suppose that <code>git.example.com</code> is not being backed up, and it goes down in a blaze of glory.  Does my clone contain everything necessary to rebuild the remote repo that was lost?  The <a href="http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~blynn/gitmagic/book.html#_ultimate_backups" rel="noreferrer">Ultimate Backups</a> section of <a href="http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~blynn/gitmagic/" rel="noreferrer">Git Magic</a> suggests that the answer is "yes," but it isn't clear to me.</p>
  
  <p>Note that I'm not asking "is my local clone a sufficient backup of the <code>master</code> branch?"  I'm asking whether my local clone can be considered a <em>complete</em> backup of <em>everything</em> that was contained in the remote repo; all branches, all tags, <em>everything</em>.  For example, what about remote branches that aren't tracked in the local repo?</p>
  
  <p>To futher confuse the issue, the existence of <code>git clone --mirror</code> suggests to me that my local clone should <em>not</em> be considered a complete backup of the remote repo.</p>