High performance, multi-level RAID image servers

In a client-server architecture, a high-performance image server for radiology supports the acquisition and distribution of images and reports. Loral provides a scalable image server family that uses two levels of RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks) and a high-speed fiber connection with a very simple protocol as a local storage for workstations supported by the image server. A RAID is a means to provide reliable, high-performance storage. The Loral implementation uses RAID 0 and RAID 3 technology to achieve data rates that are multiples of the rate of a single disk in a modular, scalable structure. The modular server architecture can start in a hospital as a radiology department server and can expand to serve the whole hospital as the system grows. For a central server to be effective for the radiology clients, images must be available on the workstations within a few seconds of a request. A high-speed interface to the central server is required that can support transfers with very little overhead in order to achieve data rates in excess of 100 megabits per second on multiple channels simultaneously.