Patent ID: 7155460

Claim:
A method for implementing write-once-read-many (WORM) storage system having a file system comprising the steps of: issuing a WORM volume create command to create a designated WORM volume among a set of disks; creating a WORM file and saving the WORM file to the designated WORM volume; transmitting and committing the WORM file to the designated WORM volume by transitioning a WORM file attribute to transition the WORM file from a not-read-only state to read-only state, wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting changes between point-in-time images that include the WORM file using a data format over a network; storing a WORM state of the WORM file with the WORM file attribute and metadata for the WORM file, where the file system recognizes the WORM state including a read-only file attribute as designating the WORM file in the designated WORM volume; using the WORM state to recognize the WORM file on the WORM designated volume; and preventing renaming of directory paths that include the WORM file in the designated WORM volume.