JC Designs implemented the DS718+ which provided a cost effective scalable solution meeting all their customers' needs

One of UK's largest veterinary groups installed digital imaging (X-ray, CAT scans and ultrasound scans) facilities at each of their branches which resulted in a need for onsite data storage. With over 50 branches to equip, a small, reliable, and cost-effective solution was needed.

JC Designs were pleased to find PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) as an add-on package in DSM Package Centre, as it allows the customer to adopt the Synology NAS solution they have trusted, used and installed for many customers over the years.

In terms of the storage for digital imaging, each practice has a different capacity requirement, yet the same needs of a PACS server.  The DS718+ NAS model proved the ideal solution for its compact size, cost-efficiency and scalability.  DS718+ supports up to 24TB of RAW storage before expansion and up to 84TB with an additional DX517, making it perfect for the small yet growing storage need of the veterinary practice.

Synology NAS units are compatible with the digital imaging equipment used in the practices. The devices can communicate to each other and as an image is taken, it is instantly transferred from the imaging machine straight to the NAS for backup.

Synology's Hyper Backup feature is being used for backing up the practices' databases to Amazon S3 in case of fire or theft.

Compact physical size and cost-efficiency
By using Synology NAS products, JC Designs were able to offer a solution to meet their customers' needs at a fraction of the cost previously anticipated.

The Synology DiskStation DS718+ is compact in its form factor, and supports a RAID 1 array, minimising risk of hard drive failure. Synology's email alerts give peace of mind knowing an email will be received should a problem arise.

PACS server
Synology NAS devices are based on an underlying open platform allowing for scripts to be run and customised in order to adapt to the practices business workflow.  The PACS package allows the user to split the storage into two types; online storage where images are stored locally on the NAS device, and then after a duration the images are moved to nearline storage which JC Designs have chosen Amazon S3 for. This allows the user to still view archived data if required, retrieving it back to the NAS with speed and ease. 

Some veterinary branches are too small to justify the huge cost of a more expensive proprietary PACS solution but by installing Synology NAS, JC Designs have been able to deliver the same quality product and service as an all-in-one solution.

MariaDB
The PACS imaging software needs an SQL database to store details of the images and allow for search and retrieval of information. Synology DS718+ allows JC Designs to install MariaDB, a branch of the open source SQL database MySQL, directly from DSM's Package Centre.