List, View, and Find Hard Disk Names in Linux

Understanding the Linux disk naming scheme is crucial for effectively identifying and organizing multiple disks within the system. By familiarizing yourself with the various disk types and their corresponding identifiers, you can efficiently navigate and optimize your disk usage.

Linux disk naming scheme is a convention Linux uses to label and identify attached hard disks. The following table lists the disk types and their meanings.

A system can have multiple disks. Linux assigns an identification letter to each disk. It uses alphabet letters in ascending order as identification letters. For example, it uses the letter a for the first detected disk, the letter b for the second detected, the letter c for the third detected disk, and so on for all subsequent disks.

You can install as many disks as your system supports. You can have up to /dev/sdz and even beyond. After /dev/sdz, Linux continues creating devices with names like /dev/sdaa and /dev/sdab.

The only exception to this convention is the NVM Express (NVMe) interface. Linux uses numbers instead of letters to identify disks. For the first disk, it uses 0n. The second disk uses 1n, and so on.

Listing / viewing / finding disk names

To list, view, or find attached disk names, we can use the lsblk (list block devices) command. This command provides information about all connected disks. It prints their names, sizes, and mount points. It also displays the partitions disks have.

The following image shows the output of this command.

This command supports many options and arguments. You can use them per your requirement to customize the output or get specific information. For example, you can use the -f option to view information about the file system used on partitions and disks.

You can check its man page for a complete list of all supported options and arguments.

#man lsblk

Conclusion

The lsblk command is an essential tool for managing and monitoring disk drives in Linux. It supports various options that extract specific information about each disk. Mastering this command enhances your ability to manage storage devices within the Linux environment.