Network Consumption and Storage Needs when Working in a Full-Time Routine Digital Environment in a Large Nonacademic...

Digital pathology is indisputably connected with high demands on data traffic and storage. As a consequence, control of the logistic process and insight into the management of both traffic and storage is essential.

We monitored data traffic from scanners to server and server to workstation and registered storage needs for diagnostic images and additional projects.

The results showed that data traffic inside the hospital network (1 Gbps) never exceeded 80 Mbps for scanner-to-server activity, and activity from the server to the workstation took at most 5 Mbps. Data storage per image increased from 300 MB to an average of 600 MB as a result of camera and software updates, and, due to the increased scanning speed, the scanning time was reduced with almost 8 h/day. Introduction of a storage policy of only 12 months for diagnostic images and rescanning if needed resulted in a manageable storage window of 45 TB for the period of 1 year.

Using simple registration tools allowed the transition of digital pathology into a concise package that allows planning and control. Incorporating retrieval of such information from scanning and storage devices will reduce the fear of losing control by the management when introducing digital pathology in daily routine.