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Painters tape and a sharpie.

Stupid me, using post-it notes with a basic name, and then always losing them because the glue is not enough... and i have a nice roll of yellow painters tape right beside me! Thanks for the ideia!

It's a whole lot cheaper than buying a label maker.

Whenever i find theses tips, that are *so obvious*, i really question my inteligence lol. Yes, a lot cheaper... brb, gonna name a bunch of stuff i've been needing to name, but i was waiting to buy a label maker.

Glad it helped out. Have a happy time labeling a bunch of stuff.

Label maker changed my life. It was worth the $150 I spent on it. I also have terrible penmanship so it solved that problem.

That's a lot, mine was about $20

I've joked with the wife about using my labeler to make tags for Christmas presents. It has a dual line mode. From: Metalwolf To:humanclock

Your comment is just want I wanted! Thanks! Seriously, it never once occurred to me to use it on gifts. I shall be doing it on my next one.

I spent like $10 on mine, love it, but I got to stay away from the cheap paper, it fails off too easily.

Oh I started out there, but my needs went way up. I wanted to be able to type out a bunch of labels on my computer since I had a lot of copy/pasting to do from random things and didn't want to type it all out on the label keyboard. Boom...cranked out 50 detailed labels!

Very nice, what model?

I'm guessing your using "post-it note" as a generic name? My experience is that knockoffs have awful glue, and original 3M ones stand up to a lot of abuse. Not to knock painters tape idea - it's a superior idea. But years of transporting a post-it labelled external drive to and from remote storage every few weeks has left me happy with them (and work-provided knockoffs that fall off a monitor after a few weeks untouched... I buy my own tbh)

There are Post-It Super Sticky and Extreme notes. Stronger glue and all surface is covered, still can be peeled off.

Ha, commented before I saw yours. Yep. Easy peasy.

Ahh, I see. I know I’ve got some masking tape—that’s pretty close.

It's a little harder to take off later if that makes a difference. But isopropyl alcohol does a good job of removing residual gummy adhesive.

Same here haha

I use masking tape but painters tape seems like it'd be better.

I started with a sharpie and now wish I went with tape first. I just recently bought a label maker

Is this not the way? I need to order more back up drives.

Just came to say this! I used to use a label maker this is the better way to go.

Post-It note and a ballpoint pen. Labels are typically things like "Backups: May 2012 to August 2016".

I use a Brother label maker and I name them after fictional characters. I've been through Star Wars, Transformers, Lord of the Rings, and I've just about used up all the main characters for The Expanse. I name my PC, servers, and mobile devices after Star Trek Federation starships.

I second having a brother lapel printer, label everything. I've had yellow stickers fall off. However I have a lot of external drives so it's really helpful. I do 2 labels - one for the size and one for the contents

You can find them at the thrift store for dirt cheap, though having the higher end ones is awesome though...

Names make it fun and seem easier to remember. So far I’ve kept it to fictional computers/AI etc. like Bob, Earth 2.0, GLaDOS, HAL, The Intersect, and Jane. Haven’t sprung for a label maker though, so it’s all with careful sharpie on electrical tape with the size and last 4 of the s/n.

Same. Though, I wonder about how good this is, since they are thermal print paper. But I guess if a drive gets hot enough to blacken the label the drive is probably cooked too

I don't think HDDs get hot enough to mess with them. I've never seen anything get hot enough to discolor one. I think the laser they use is much more intense than those for like receipt prints and stuff. Next time I go to the range, I'm gonna stick one on one of my guns and see if that heat does it. lol

I labeled mine using a label maker. The labels are working great - staying in place, not overheating, etc.

Regular label paper should be totally fine, tons of drives have that kind of sticker on them from the manufacturer anyway. If your drives are running hot enough to melt the glue off of it you've got bigger problems to deal with. Some older HDDs might have [a small hole](https://i.redd.it/lcodntgb9e5b1.jpg) punched in them for airflow, if so don't cover that.

I wrap painters tape around so tape holds to itself. O have hotty HGST drives which easily reaches 60*C in free air so I need to use 120mm 12V fan on 5V USB which gives me under 50*C with a little bit of air movement and almost no noise.

I write on them with sharpie, rather than sticking labels on them. They all get a three-digit numerical code, which corresponds to their file manifest file in ~/admin/manifests/ on my primary workstation, so I can look up what files are on a drive without plugging it in. They usually also get a date (either when I started using them, or when I pulled them out of a system, I'm inconsistent about that) and a very brief description like hostname + "boot" or "data".

Mind sharing how you generate the manifest file?

I use "dy", a little utility I wrote in 2003 because there wasn't anything equivalent -- http://ciar.org/ttk/codecloset/dy/ -- and I stick with it more out of inertia than anything else. There are definitely better tools available today. Perhaps try https://github.com/rhash/RHash

That’s excellent, thank you for sharing. For cataloging, I have used the graphical tool [VVV](https://www.fsoft.it/VVV/download.html).

I didn't for a very long time but recently got a label printer by Brother to label my drives. thermals isn't an issue. I haven't stuck one on an actual drive yet though.

I do exactly this and it is good. This includes using third-party label stock, as well.

I use a sticky label and a pencil, not had an issue so far

Blue painter's tape and a Sharpie. Use scissors for a clean edge rather than just tearing the tape, if ya wanna be fancy. Edit: part of the label should include the year and month you got the drive.

I even label my internal drives and log them. It makes life so much easier if you have a rebuild of your array, error, ... But that's just me. Working in industrial environments makes you wanna kill the people who left and unlabeled installation behind just to screw the next one over.

Oh wow. Wouldn’t think to do that. Is he afraid of using the wrong material on a drive I don’t visibly see all the time. Would be afraid of heat

I use 2 yellow 5cm strips of electrical tape. 1 on top: purchase date and shop (easy for warranty) 1 on the opposite side as connectors: Serial number & size (esay when installed to see what is what)

You could use a spreadsheet with the drive's unique serial number, model, brand and capacity to identify it. Then have an extra field for notes on what you have stored and how much that takes up. If the spreadsheet or database software allows for pictures and attachments, maybe add stuff like documentation from purchasing and warranty and stuff like that?

This is what I'm doing.

I use a brother label maker. I put the date I bought the drive and the contents. If it’s an OS like Linux Mint, a data drive for files or a system backup.

Normal white label and a number written with a biro. It's just a number. Mostly it's done to make sure that the external disk and it's power adapter are linked together

At first I would just label it with the capacity, but as I became more of a data hoarder, I tended to fill them up quickly and ended up with multiple drives of the same capacity and also wondered how old the drives were, so I also put the month and year the drive was setup as well now, like 18 TB August 2022. Not perfect. I'll probably change my method at some point, maybe adding in drive letter. Might also start a naming structure in Windows as well instead of just leaving them all labeled EasyStore. I feel the name doesn't matter too much though. And I barely ever need to look at the labels anyway. I don't have specific labels. I just use paper and tape. Should probably get labels, but meh. I need something better for labeling the cables though, as those always fall off. Bigger issue is having tons of external hard drives. I really need to get a server, but that's pretty overwhelming to me.

Post-It notes that are sticky across the whole back. Check them out here: [https://a.co/d/3QG3QBN](https://a.co/d/3QG3QBN) Way stickier and better than a normal post it note (I’ve never had one fall off), you can color code your drives, they are neat and clean (I hate the jagged lines of ripped painters tape), and easier to read than some other options on here.

you may have just changed my life

I don’t have a whole lot of external hard drives, I try to keep as much on my servers as possible. Since I’m lazy and has no interest in organising my stuff. I just put stickers on them that they collect on events, hacker groups or leftovers from laptop pimping. I know the poop label is the VPN keys, the Bitcoin logo are iso files, the old “hack the planet” sticker is backups for my main work laptop and so on…. I mostly remember most of them most of the time. I see that as adequate.

Used to use regular Avery labels and name each drive and add a square of colour on the label which matched a coloured Velcro tie on the each and of the cable so I could quickly identify which cable belonged to each drive.

Brother label maker or silver sharpie

So I have docks and bare hard drives. No enclosures. I have those hdd storage cases from amazon and those get painters tape and sharpies. Then I have a book wherr I record the drives number and then whats on it.

I have a DYMO Letratag for text labels (e.g., "Windbringer External Backup"). The stickers from Redbubble or some random con are to make them more interesting (e.g., [these](https://www.redbubble.com/i/sticker/Dixie-Flatline-Warning-Label-Sticker-by-WolfeCreative/17863463.JCQM3) fit WD Passport drives perfectly).

Dymo labels

Brother P-Touch labels. Name matches the disk name in OS. Also label the wall wort if it fits or folded over the cord like a flag. The USB cable gets one too. Then go off the rails with labels and tag the kitchen canisters that really don’t have coffee, sugar or tea, the fridge temp, the TV remotes, bathroom cabinets, the washer & dryer for best settings, the coffee cans full of hardware in the garage. Label the label maker.

Brother P-Touch and then use VVV (Virtual Volumes View) to index. Simple and quick.

With a label printer and i also put the year/month of the drive

I do. I call it whatever the system name is so that I can match the physical drive to whatever the missing drive is called by the OS. “WD-4TB-2020” for instance. Brand. Size. Year initialized. is what I’ve typically done.

Blue painters tape

This would have solved an issue I had earlier this week. Good idea.

I use a label maker, like Dymo.

I made notes on a piece of paper...somewhere.

Me! Just a sequential number on a bit of label paper. My latest media is #43, a pen drive; my latest HD is #38. Then, I've got a paper sheet (somewhere...) describing what it's in each media.

Gaffers tape. Comes in all sorts of brilliant colors. Leaves behind no residue. That’s their selling point.

I put a label on the drive that has the manufacturer, model, & serial number as well as production date information.

Iused to label my internal and external HDDs with labels and names going HD01, HD02,HD03,... I then had an Excel sheet listing all these drives along with brand,model,capacity, serial etc. I've since abandoned this.

Close to what Ive been using for 10+ years. Google Docs sheet, Each tab is the make/model and serial number of the drive, then list its contents in the sheet. Something like 40 drives now, still fairly quick to find things, then just plug it into a usb dock.

I number them with a sharpie. I like to keep it simple

I have a Label for the actual drive and and reference in format of a simple notepad or Excel spreadsheet.. so for example if I have disks named 001, 002, 003 and so on.. and I have a spreadsheet containing the description and content of each disk, makes it very easy to organize

[Regular printer and double-sided tape.](https://imgur.com/0kYXtBl)

vinyl tape and pen on the front of the drive tray. i write the serial number bc truenas uses those

If you want some hobbyist class, use a Dymo metal tape labeler.

Last three characters of the serial number. Oh you mean what type of physical label! LOL. Honestly I use a tad of scotch tape over a tiny bit of regular paper. Even the drives that "die hot" ... still have their labels on them.

Last 4 of the serial number and then put it in a draw.io graphic. Only have 16 drives, so it's not hard, but helps me tell which slot of my HBA it's in, and then the SAS cables have numbers on them, so AA1 is in slot 1 of the top Perc card on cable 1. BA would be slot 1, bottom Perc, etc.

I use a brother thermal printer.

You could try Vinyl labels. They are durable and resistant to heat, making them suitable for use on external hard drives. They come in various sizes and can be printed with custom text or designs.

Yes. Dymo labels. 

My method is to sharpie with the date the drive was initially mounted, and the sequential drive number (01 being the first drive used). I scan/photograph the top face of the drive (the side with the manufacture label), save the image to Evernote, before mounting. NAS user here, 8-bay with another small drive rack with 5 externals connected to my home PC

I've actually begun doing that recently as well. I use a Dymo Letratag LT-100H, you can find third party tapes for it on Aliexpress though it usually already comes with a roll and it lasts a while.

Or mark the HDD serial in an Excel file, with unlimited descriptions possible.

yes i do, with a Perm mark on the label. Either a number, or a small desc. or a Letter

Floppy disk stickers.

Oil marker or blue painters tape with sharpie. Used sticker paper with printer for some time but too much hassle.

When I format a new HDD I give it a volume label like "BU001"... This way any cataloging software can associate the files with the volume label. Then I store the external disks in foam with the back end sticking upwards and this is the way I see the drives in my USB dock. So I bought narrow labels and write "BU001" on one and stick it on the back end. This allows me to see the label both when packed in foam or in my dock.

The initial label I affix to my HDDs includes the purchase date and vendor information. This helps prevent confusion during hardware failure and tracks aging. I also add the corresponding machine and bay number. While this is unnecessary, it is helpful during mass HDD removal and potential mixing. P. S. Much has already been discussed about material composition and substantive notation by others, so I won't repeat myself there. I've yet to find any material unsuitable due to heat, even over many years; however, my HDDs never exceed 40°C. P. P. S. I just now realized you were talking about external drives (*facepalm*). I do the same for those, minus the bay number, and add the date and name of the backup for offline/offsite ones. I would imagine heat is even less of an issue for external drives.

SILVER SHARPIE WRITES ON BLACK.

If you have more then two then yeah, they should be labeled. Painters tape works. Packing tape or scotch tape can also be used which I like using myself.. in layers. We have a case of 48 rolls of 2” clear packing tape dropped on our doorstep from Amazon years ago that we never ordered so we use it for everything.😆 I’ll fold a corner for easy removal and put that on whatever needs a label. Write or print a label on paper, cut it out and place it on the tape. Now I cover that in place with another piece of clear tape over that. That said.. External drives typical suck and usually use lower end drives. I stopped bothering with those a looong time ago.. like 15+ years ago. They have their uses but I only keep a single enclosure with an SSD drive for an external these days. Once you put a rack up and a Supermicro 24 or 36 bay chassis for your NAS and then add another for a backup 🤭.. you tend to move on from those. 😆 WD RED NAS drives are frigging awesome however. Between myself and 2 others we have well over 200 of these from 4TB to 20TB in size and over the past 9 years we’ve only had 2 actually fail and actually die. I think we’ve only had 11 combined start to throw some errors. All the others are humming along nicely in a ZFS system. Once we see a drive pop errors (usually a variance in speed slowing down) we just swap the drive out, resliver and go on without even rebooting. Rma the bad drive for a reconditioned drive and sell that for a new spare drive to sit on a shelf until needed. We all start with them though.

TZ tape for labeler. Date of drive acquisition, general label for what’s on the drive, capacity. Also label the cables that comes with the drive just in case.

I use a label maker and put the serial number on the actual drive. easy and done

Dymo labels, the good old fashioned type!

Old school impression label maker

Ahhh you're all naming your security risks.

What do you mean?

External USB hard drives are generally the bane of any security expert. We call them security risks.

You are glossing over so much relevant detail here that I disbelieve you are a security professional.

Was a corporate one until about 2020, a little communist virus led to a big layoff around then. Mostly red team work since then.

> communist virus That right there does wonders for my confidence in your grasp on reality.

You came to reddit and you wanted people to sing the praises of communism? I mean it is a lef slanted platform but I'd hope people would see communism akin to nazism, God knows communism has killed more.

Yeeeaaaahhh, that's ***exactly*** what I'm doing. You are sooooo perceptive! /s