Is it better to backup onto a hard drive on different machine?

Hi!
I am installing Acronis True Image and would like to know whether it would be better to create backups on another server (over the network), or will creating backups on the same machine (on a different hard drive) be just as good?
Reason I ask is, I need to install a new hard drive for backups regardless - I was just wondering whether I should install it onto a competely different machine and back up over the network (if that is better) or whether installing it onto the same machine is OK.
Thanks!

 

If over the network is a LAN, installing the second drive in the same machine will give you much faster backup/restore times if you network is the usual 100Mbps. If you have a 1000Mbps LAN then the backup/restores are closer to a USB drive. However, just how well the LAN performs with the TI rescue CD will depend on how good the driver is. The rescue environment is Linux and a weakness with the TI implementaion is driver quality. You will also have to get the recovery enivronment to recognize your network and than may not be totally straightforward. Recovering from an internal HD is usually easy and is the least problematic.

Having the backup on a separate machine may be better in the security sense but if both machines are in the same room they can be stolen. If they are both plugged in and interconnected they can both be zapped by lightening or power surges.

Personally, I'd put the backup drive in the same machine. My primary backup is a second internal HD. For extra security I copy some backups, not all, to USB drives or across my network. Once in a while I make DVD copies and store them at a friend's house. I spend more effort on backing up data files such as pictures, spreadsheets that are available nowhere else than Windows or apps. I can always reload them.

 

I backup to an external USB drive, which is kept physically separate from my PC. However, my PC is a notebook, so physical security is perhaps a greater concern than it might be for a desktop.

 

I would recommend always backing up to a disk partition first. It's quickest and safest.
Then you can copy the image wherever you wish - 2nd disk, usb disk, over the network to another computer etc.

Lon