Additional Topics > Medical Imaging in IDL > Using IDL DICOM Network Services > Completing Required Setup Tasks

# Completing Required Setup Tasks

Before using the DICOM Network Services utility to query, retrieve or transfer files across a network, you need to define Application Entities (AEs) for the needed DICOM services. AEs define the machine characteristics where a local or remote DICOM network service exists.

The exact steps depend on the type of services you will be using. See the following for more information:

- Configuring Your System to Receive Files — describes how to define an Application Entity associated with the DICOM Storage SCP service which includes setting a directory location where returned files are stored. This change requires restarting the Storage SCP Service.
- Defining a Machine to Be Queried — describes how to configure and define a Query SCP node, a machine from which you will request files.
- Sending Files to a Remote Destination — describes how send files from your system (one that supports Storage SCU) to a remote machine (one that supports Storage SCP).

After defining the necessary Application Entities, you can select among the defined AEs, choosing one for each service. You can also test connections to remote nodes using echo, create custom queries, retrieve and send files, and manage the Storage SCP Service state.