[SOLVED] How to Label Hard Drives?

[fonzie]

I'm in the process of changing cases on my unRaid server but want to get everything as organized as I possibly can in order to ensure the transition goes smoothly.

 

A few questions:

I want to label my drives so that I don't get them mixed up.  What is the pertinent data I should have on the label?  (Sata Port, last 4 or 5 digits of HD serial, Disk #)

 

Will it make any difference if I connect my existing drives to different Sata ports?

 

Any other advice or cautions before I swap my server cases?

[Joe L.]

I'm in the process of changing cases on my unRaid server but want to get everything as organized as I possibly can in order to ensure the transition goes smoothly.

 

A few questions:

I want to label my drives so that I don't get them mixed up.  What is the pertinent data I should have on the label?  (Sata Port, last 4 or 5 digits of HD serial, Disk #)

 

Will it make any difference if I connect my existing drives to different Sata ports?

 

Any other advice or cautions before I swap my server cases?

last few characters of the serial number is all you need.  The rest will change as you manage your array.

[fonzie]

So I can disconnect all my drives and reconnect them to different Sata ports and unRaid will automatically configure my setup to how it originally was?  No need to assign drives (like when adding a new disk to the array)?

[Joe L.]

So I can disconnect all my drives and reconnect them to different Sata ports and unRaid will automatically configure my setup to how it originally was?  No need to assign drives (like when adding a new disk to the array)?

On the newest 5.0beta6a, yes.  It will figure it all out on its own.

 

On older releases, prior to 5.0beta6a, if you use the same set of ports and the parity disk remains on the same port it will figure it out.  On those older releases, if you use a new previously unused port you'll need to use the devices assignment page to assign the drive to its slot in the array.

 

So... the only really important piece of information to be easily found on a drive is its serial number, in case a drive fails you can quickly identify it.

 

Personally, I have the disk size, make, and serial number on the side of the drives as seen here in a picture of my newer server:

[lionelhutz]

I'd say it depends.

 

The port really does not really matter. When you boot unRAID and the drives are messed-up the array does not start and the old origional config is listed in smaller italics below the present assignment. So, you just go back and forth between the main page and the devices page and put the drives back where they belong. Once you upgrade to a 5.x release then it really doesn't matter.

 

The serial number (or part of it) can matter if you have no way of identifying the unRAID drive vs the physical drive. What you have to do really depends on your setup. I have 8 hot-swap bays in my case and my drives currently go parity, disk1, disk2, disk3, disk4, cache from top to bottom. So, it's pretty easy for me to figure it out. I can also just pull out the drives to look at the serial number. So, I don't put extra labels on anything. But, if you don't use hot-swap bays then you might want to put a label where you can see it while the drive is installed so you can identify the drive easier. You would especially want to label if you don't have any physical vs assigned order to help you match them up.

 

Peter

 

[fonzie]

So I just switched to my new case and used the same exact ports I had them connected to.  I labeled the hard drivers with the last 5 digits of their serial # and as (Parity, Disk 1, Disk 2, etc)

[aRe-eYe-pEa]

I use the last four of the serial number written on the drive in black Sharpie.  That way they can't really be seen until you shine a flash light on them.

[jeff.lebowski]

Here's what I have:

 

[SSD]

Have you looked at myMain (plugin for unmenu)?  Has a very nice way of tracking physical locations of drives, and other drive attributes as well.