Therefore, PACS is a combination of systems. The most important system is the imaging modality itself. Is it a digital imaging system (CT, US, MR, DR/DX or CR)? Does it have all the required DICOM licencses (querry, retrieve, storage, worklist, etc)? Do you have service access to the modality? Only authorized users are allowed to modify DICOM configuration settings on the modality control console. If you don't have access, ask for a service password from the vendor/supplier/service engineer.

The second component is Local Area Network (LAN). Do you have network cabling in place? PACS requires solid network infrastructure, preferrably Gigabit speed. Make sure you have network points in imaging room, server room, and all doctors' review rooms. From modality to server room, cable LAN is used but remote workstations can be connected via WiFi (If cable LAN is absent). LAN is the backbone of PACS. You need dedicated ICT/Networking personnel  on site or on call to minimize system downtime (something always goes wrong on the network).

If the first two components are in place, then you are ready to deploy PACS at your facility. You may now proceed to component number three, which is usually regarded as PACS. This is where Storage Server and remote viewing stations come in. The storage server is a powerful computer on which PACS management applications are installed. Minimum requirements for a PACS server are: 16GB RAM (preferrably 32GB), i7 or Xeon quad core processor, 256GB SSD (for system), 4TB HDD (for x-ray image storage), and 2 Gigabit NIC ports for connecting to hospital LAN as well as dedicated modality network. Storage size depends on the number/type of modalities and volume of studies. A single X-ray study is around 25MB or less while a CT study can reach up to 125MB or more.

Specifications for remote viewing stations vary depending on location. A Radiologist, Orthopedic Surgeon, or a Neurosurgeon would typically require a powerful workstation with dedicated graphics processing unit, better RAM, faster CPU, and dual High-resolution screens (16GB RAM, i7 or Xeon Quadcore CPU, 1TB SSD, 27-32" 2K-5K screens) while the rest of the physicians would do with Intel i3, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 21-24" FHD screen.