A hybrid PACS splits the work in two. An on-premise node inside the centre receives, stores and serves studies over the local network. A thin cloud layer adds remote reading, WhatsApp share links and an encrypted offsite copy. This page explains what runs where and what survives each kind of failure.
Hybrid PACS means the archive and viewer live on a machine in your building, and a cloud service mirrors what is needed for people outside the building. In AuraPACS the node handles DICOM receive, the modality worklist, the local archive, the browser viewer and reporting. The cloud layer handles remote viewing from home or a second site, the secure links you send on WhatsApp, and the encrypted offsite backup.
The split is deliberate. Indian centres deal with power cuts, shared fibre lines and afternoons when the uplink crawls. Pure cloud fails on the day the line is down. Pure on-premise fails on the day a disk dies or the radiologist is out of town. Hybrid is the arrangement where neither failure stops the centre.
Neither model is wrong. Each just has a failure it cannot absorb, and small centres cannot afford a spare of everything.
Studies queue on the scanner, the viewer will not load, the reporting backlog grows until the connection returns.
A cloud viewer streaming a multi-series MR over a congested line makes the radiologist wait for every slice.
An on-premise server with no offsite copy loses years of studies to one hardware fault.
On-premise-only means reading happens inside the building or through a VPN someone has to maintain.
Without a cloud endpoint, sharing a study means a CD or a printed film again.
Any PACS goes dark without power, but what matters is how quickly the node is back and whether anything was lost.
Modalities send DICOM to the node on the local network. No internet involved.
Scheduled patients are pushed to the machine so nothing is retyped.
Studies are indexed locally and opened in a browser from any PC on the network.
Templates, sign-off and the PDF are all done against the local copy.
When online, an encrypted copy of each study syncs offsite.
Radiologists read from outside, and WhatsApp links resolve, through the cloud layer.
Workflow: The morning's CT and ultrasound run against the node. Reports are finalised locally.
Result: When the line returns in the evening, the backlog of share links goes out at once.
Workflow: She opens the day's MR studies in a browser from her hotel through the cloud layer.
Result: Reports are signed the same day.
Workflow: Front desk sends the study's secure link on WhatsApp.
Result: The physician opens the images and PDF on a phone without any login.
Workflow: The archive is on the centre's own machine, with an encrypted copy offsite.
Result: No per-study rent, and a copy that survives a disk failure.
Cannot stop scanning for the ISP, cannot burn CDs for every referrer.
Reading happens from home more often than from the reading room.
Wards need images at night, consultants want them on their phones.
One archive, two locations, one reader.
Where power and fibre are both shared with the rest of the street.
One. AuraPACS installs as a node on your network and the cloud layer is part of the same system. You do not buy an on-premise licence and then a cloud subscription from someone else.
Remote reading from outside the centre, WhatsApp share links and the offsite sync. Receiving studies, the worklist, local viewing and reporting all continue on the node. See on-premise PACS for the node in detail.
Each study on the node is copied, encrypted, to the cloud layer when the connection is available. If the node's disk fails, the archive is restored from that copy.
Yes. Authorised users open synced studies in a browser from anywhere, with role-based access and every view audited. See remote reading.
No. The cloud layer is operated as part of AuraPACS. Your IT person installs the node with remote guidance and points the modalities at it; the rest is configured for you.
Local reading is the same, because the viewer serves from the node. The sync to the cloud runs in the background and does not sit between the scanner and the reading screen.
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