An apparatus configured to record data onto removable storage media, includes: an image receiving interface configured to receive imaging data from an imaging modality, a central processing unit configured to process the image data to generate a study in a standard medical imaging format, and a removable media interface built-in or attached-to the modality and configured to, in response to receiving the study from the central processing unit, automatically start an storage operation to record at least part of the study generated by the central processing unit onto the removable storage media. In one embodiment, the removable media interface receives the study via a localhost address without the use of a physical network between the modality and removable media interface.