page_title: Picture archiving and communication system
section_title: Image archival and backup
hierarchical_section_title: Picture archiving and communication system / Image archival and backup
caption_attribution_description: English: PACS-Server with 35 Terabyte RAID Archive and high speed fiber optic switch Deutsch: PACS-Server mit 35 Terabyte RAID Archiv und Hochgeschwindigkeitsswitch
context_page_description: A picture archiving and communication system is a medical imaging technology which provides economical storage and convenient access to images from multiple modalities. Electronic images and reports are transmitted digitally via PACS; this eliminates the need to manually file, retrieve, or transport film jackets, the folders used to store and protect X-ray film. The universal format for PACS image storage and transfer is DICOM. Non-image data, such as scanned documents, may be incorporated using consumer industry standard formats like PDF, once encapsulated in DICOM. A PACS consists of four major components: The imaging modalities such as X-ray plain film, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, a secured network for the transmission of patient information, workstations for interpreting and reviewing images, and archives for the storage and retrieval of images and reports. Combined with available and emerging web technology, PACS has the ability to deliver timely and efficient access to images, interpretations, and related data. PACS reduces the physical and time barriers associated with traditional film-based image retrieval, distribution, and display.
context_section_description: Digital medical images are typically stored locally on a PACS for retrieval. It is important (and required in the United States by the Security Rule's Administrative Safeguards section of HIPAA) that facilities have a means of recovering images in the event of an error or disaster.
  While each facility is different, the goal in image back-up is to make it automatic and as easy to administer as possible. The hope is that the copies won't be needed; however, disaster recovery and business continuity planning dictates that plans should include maintaining copies of data even when an entire site is temporarily or permanently lost. 
  Ideally, copies of images should be maintained in several locations, including off-site to provide disaster recovery capabilities.  In general, PACS data is no different than other business critical data and should be protected with multiple copies at multiple locations.  As PACS data can be considered protected health information (PHI), regulations may apply, most notably HIPAA and HIPAA Hi-Tech requirements.  
  Images may be stored both locally and remotely on off-line media such as disk, tape or optical media. The use of storage systems, using modern data protection technologies has become increasingly common, particularly for larger organizations with greater capacity and performance requirements. Storage systems may be configured and attached to the PACS server in various ways, either as Direct-Attached Storage (DAS), Network-attached storage (NAS), or via a Storage Area Network (SAN).  However the storage is attached, enterprise storage systems commonly utilize RAID and other technologies to provide high availability and fault tolerance to protect against failures.  In the event that it is necessary to reconstruct a PACS partially or completely, some means of rapidly transferring data back to the PACS is required, preferably while the PACS continues to operate.
  Modern data storage replication technologies may be applied to PACS information, including the creation of local copies via point-in-time copy for locally protected copies, along with complete copies of data on separate repositories including disk and tape based systems.  Remote copies of data should be created, either by physically moving tapes off-site, or copying data to remote storage systems.  Whenever HIPAA protected data is moved, it should be encrypted, which includes sending via physical tape or replication technologies over wide area networks (WAN) to a secondary location.  
  Other options for creating copies of PACS data include removable media (hard drives, DVDs or other media that can hold many patients' images) that is physically transferred off-site.  HIPAA  HITECH mandates encryption of stored data in many instances or other security mechanisms to avoid penalties for failure to comply.
  The back-up infrastructure may also be capable of supporting the migration of images to a new PACS. Due to the high volume of images that need to be archived many rad centers are migrating their systems to a Cloud-based PACS.
caption: PACS-Server with 35-terabyte RAID Archive and high speed fiber optic switch
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