 |
Operating Systems - Basic overview of what software runs your PACS equipment.Operating Systems, which are also known by the acronym OS will be the next section of discussion in the IT Skills section. Most people are familiar with the Microsoft Windows platform of computing however, not all PACS systems run on Windows. This is why, as a PACS Administrator, you will need to understand the different brands of systems. The OS is the software on which any workstation, server, laptop PDA or other computing device can run. The OS is responsible for sharing and coordinating all of the hardware resources on the device and allowing them to talk to each other. There are three major OS's in use today: Windows, Unix/Linux and Macintosh's OS X (OS 10). Each has it's advantages: Windows is the most widely used OS, Unix/Linux is open source, so you can use it for free and the Mac OS X is very stable and has outstanding graphics capabilities. In contrast, each also has distinct disadvantages: Windows crashes fairly easily and has many security vulnerabilities, Unix/Linux is not a mainstream system therefore it is more difficult to adapt to widespread use in an organization and Mac OS X has proprietary hardware from Apple meaning that you can't put OS X on any hardware you would like. Some names of some lesser known systems include: Solaris, BSD, QNX and VxWorks. To my knowledge, there are no PACS systems running on any of these lesser known OS's. As a PACS administrator, I would recommend focusing on the Microsoft Server, XP and Vista platforms and learning Unix and Linux OS's when you have the oportunity. Learning to operate in the Unix/Linux environment is a great way to build text based computing skills. Anybody working as a PACS administrator at an Emageon PACS site can attest to that.
|
