The current CDR system is a software tool for the migration of raw data to CASTOR, the CERN developed mass storage system (MSS). The CASTOR system manages data files that are stored on a variety of cartridge tape devices as well as the migration of data to and from data storage pools on disk servers. Storage pools are groups of UNIX filesystems managed by a CASTOR stage daemon and it is in these storage pools that data files are processed by physics analysis programs. A central database holds the names of all files in the CASTOR name space. To facilitate this process, dedicated CDR-CASTOR public diskservers have been installed.

The most common use of the CDR system is for LHC testbeam data. However, more demanding experiments like NA48, COMPASS and HARP have used the CDR system to transfer data at up to 35MB/sec using multiple data streams. Variants of the basic CDR service are also used to manage data produced in large Monte Carlo productions and mock data challenges for LHC experiments.

Central Data Recording at CERN was pioneered by Bernd Panzer-Steindel in the context of CERN's participation in the Esprit project. The FOCUS comittee approved the service in March 1996 and now all CERN experiments use it as their normal method of data recording.