HDDsid

HDDsid, short for Hard Disk Drive Serial Identifier, is a proposed global identifier designed to uniquely identify physical hard disk drives across systems and networks. The concept aims to supplement existing metadata such as model number, firmware version, and factory serial numbers by providing a persistent, machine-readable ID that can be tracked through an asset-management registry and across data-center lifecycles.

The technical idea envisions a 128-bit or 256-bit identifier derived from manufacturer-encoded data, including a vendor prefix, production batch, and a device-level checksum, encoded in a normalized format such as hex or base32. The identifier would be accessible via standard interfaces where available (such as vendor tools, S.M.A.R.T. attributes, NVMe/SATA management APIs) and would be designed to resist spoofing through optional cryptographic signing. The registry would map HDDsid values to device properties such as model, capacity, warranty status, and deployment location, enabling software to reason about drives across environments.

Adoption is uneven; enterprise storage environments and asset-management platforms have explored HDDsid for fleet tracking and maintenance planning, while consumer drives generally do not expose a standardized HDDsid. Benefits include robust asset inventory, streamlined warranty verification, and improved reliability in large-scale backups. Challenges include a lack of universal standardization, varying vendor support, privacy concerns, and the need to update firmware and management software to expose and consume the identifier.

Related topics include serial number, asset management, S.M.A.R.T., and NVMe.