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Imaging Archive Retention Cost Calculator

Estimate retained imaging archive size and cost from study volume, retention years, growth, redundancy, and user-entered storage pricing.

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Inputs

GB
years
$/TB-mo

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Results

Annual Archive Cost
Monthly Archive Cost$9,274.26
Billable Storage515.24
Retained Studies977,041.01

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Assumptions

  • Study growth compounds annually.
  • Storage price is entered by the user.
  • No imaging or operational data is stored.

Sensitivity preview

Annual Studies -10%: Annual Archive Cost $100,161.97

Annual Studies Current: Annual Archive Cost $111,291.08

Annual Studies +10%: Annual Archive Cost $122,420.19

Formula: Retained studies and storage are summed across retention years with annual growth. Billable TB = retained GB / 1024 * redundancy multiplier. Annual cost = billable TB * price per TB-month * 12.

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About this Imaging Archive Retention Cost Calculator

Long-term imaging retention can dominate PACS and VNA cost. This calculator estimates retained archive size and monthly or annual storage cost from local policy assumptions.

Who this calculator is for

  • PACS administrators planning retention.
  • Radiology IT teams budgeting archive growth.
  • Healthcare leaders comparing archive vendors.

When to use it

  • Estimate retained storage over a policy window.
  • Model annual imaging growth and redundancy.
  • Convert archive size into monthly and annual cost.

How to use this calculator

  1. Enter annual study count and average study size.
  2. Set retention years, annual growth, redundancy, and price per TB-month.
  3. Review retained archive size and annual cost.

Key assumptions

  • Study growth compounds annually.
  • Storage price is entered by the user.
  • No imaging or operational data is stored.

Accuracy and testing

Review formula sources, default test cases, assumptions, unit handling, rounding rules, and changelog for this calculator.

View accuracy page

How this calculator works

Each retention year adds annual studies adjusted by growth. Storage TB = cumulative study GB / 1024 x redundancy multiplier. Annual cost = storage TB x monthly price x 12.
Retained studies and storage are summed across retention years with annual growth. Billable TB = retained GB / 1024 * redundancy multiplier. Annual cost = billable TB * price per TB-month * 12.

Inputs explained

Retention years

How many years of studies are retained in this archive scenario.

Redundancy multiplier

Billable storage multiplier for replicas, erasure coding, or secondary copies.

Storage price

User-entered vendor or internal cost per TB per month.

Understanding your results

Use annual cost as a planning estimate. Real contracts may include retrieval, egress, support, minimums, and lifecycle tiers.

Example scenarios

Seven-year archive

120,000 studies/year at 0.45 GB each, 7-year retention, 5% growth, and 1.2x redundancy creates hundreds of TB of billable storage.

Key Features

  • Instant Calculation
  • Private & Secure
  • Mobile Optimized

Tips & Best Practices

  • Model legal retention policy and operational retention separately.
  • Include retrieval and egress in cloud scenarios.
  • Use recent PACS averages for study size.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this include retrieval or egress fees?
No. Use the Cloud PACS calculator for retrieval and egress assumptions.
Can retention rules vary?
Yes. Retention policies vary by jurisdiction, patient age, specialty, and organization.
Are archive details stored?
No. Calculations run locally.