WORM is an
acronym for Write Once, Read Many. A
WORM drive is an
optical storage media device that uses
removable discs. WORM drives can store large amounts of
data (up to 15
GB per removable disc). This differentiates them from
CD-ROM drives, with a maximum of approximately 700 MB. WORM drives are
expensive and the removable media is relatively
economical and fast, but they are becoming
obsolete.
Businesses store data onto WORM drives using a laser that creates ablations on the internal media. This data is placed into what is considered long-term storage. If you wish to delete data on a WORM disc, all that the computer does is map the sections with the data as bad or not available. The data is actually still physically there, just not accessable to users. A data recovery service can recover the data should the need arise.