DICOM Storage is the most used DICOM service, allowing the exchange of images and other DICOM objects between devices.

Different levels can be negotiated. It is critical to determine which storage SOP class one would need because new storage classes are defined with more functionality (Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, CR, Enhanced CT, MR, XA, RF, etc.).

The DICOM Storage Service consists of several Storage SOP classes, which are defined by their ability to exchange what are known as composite objects (and of those composite objects, images are clearly the most common and well known).

The specific Storage SOP Class is negotiated between the SCU and SCP, and if its specific support is acknowledged and confirmed by the SCP, the SCU will send the images corresponding to that SOP Class with the C_Store command.

The DICOM Storage Service performs an operation that is really a copy or a sendfunction, meaning that the information will be copied from one device to the other. There is no requirement that the object must be stored permanently. The standard requires that the information will be available for some amount of time on the receiving system. If a guarantee is needed that the object is permanently stored and/or archived, one should use the Storage Commitment SOP Class in addition.