Data communication in a picture archiving and communications system network

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein executable commands for execution on a processor of a server computer, the, server computer being connected to the database via a first communication link and a separate second communication link, the processor when executing the commands performing:

• accessing, in the database, metadata associated with the data file via the first communication link using a first query protocol;
• locating, via the first communication link using the first query protocol, the data file in the database in dependence upon the metadata;
• and,
• accessing in the database at least a portion of data stored in the data file via the second communication link using a second query protocol and wherein the second query protocol is different from the first query protocol.

A method for accessing a data file in a PACS database comprising:

• receiving at a server computer a request for accessing a data file of a plurality of data files stored in the PACS database, the server computer being connected to the PACS database via a standard communication link and a separate high performance communication link;
• accessing, in the PACS database, metadata associated with the data file via the standard communication link using a standard query protocol;
• locating, via the first communication link using the first query protocol, the data file in the PACS database in dependence upon the metadata;
• and,
• accessing in the PACS database at least a portion of data stored in the data file via the high performance communication link using a high performance query protocol.