title: Terraform s3 backend vs terraform_remote_state
body: <p>According to the <a href="https://www.terraform.io/docs/backends/types/s3.html" rel="noreferrer">documentation</a>, to use <code>s3</code> and not a local <code>terraform.tfstate</code> file for state storage, one should configure a backend more or less as follows:</p>
  
  <pre><code>terraform {
  
    backend "s3" {
        bucket = "my-bucket-name"
        key = "my-key-name"
        region = "my-region"
    }
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I was </p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>using a local (<code>terraform.tfstate</code>) file</li>
  <li>added the above snippet in my <code>provided.tf</code> file</li>
  <li>run (again) <code>terraform init</code></li>
  <li>was asked by terraform to migrate my state to the above bucket</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>...so far so good...</p>
  
  <p>But then comes <a href="https://www.terraform.io/docs/state/remote.html" rel="noreferrer">this</a> confusing part about <code>terraform_remote_state</code> ...</p>
  
  <p>Why do I need this?</p>
  
  <p>Isn't my state now saved <strong>remotely</strong> (on the aforemenetioned s3 bucket) already?</p>