Is disk serial readable from supermicro chassis?

There exist no way at all to (optically) read a disk serial number once the disk is inserted into the system - the holes in the front of the disk caddy are not meant to facilitate reading a serial number but are there out of thermal and/or design considerations. This is generally true for every server/disk array manufacturer.

Usually, you replace disks by slot numbers (or the "error LED", which also can be activated by command in many RAID controllers), but for that you have to be sure of the mapping between controller port/disk numbers and physical slots.

Nevertheless, what the DC did was beyond irresponsible, they had to get back to you before just pulling random disks to work out the correct slot. Doing this twice is beyond stupid, as you can kill even a RAID6 this way.

Supermicro is rough... But so is your hosting company!!

There's no excuse for that. Ask for a credit on your monthly bill for the mistake if it caused downtime.

So think of this:

• The disk serial number should be irrelevant. Replacements should be based on model number. (One of the downsides of DIY Supermicro hardware is that you aren't dealing with a single manufacturer/warranty and unified part numbers)

• The model/types of the drive should be known to the owner of the hardware or hosting company. Their inventory system should have this information readily available.

• Pulling the wrong disks is just dangerous. I'm hoping this didn't happen while the server was running.

• It is possible to illuminate a disk locator LED under mode RAID situations. For instance, I will light a disk beacon for an hour to make sure a datacenter technician pulls the proper drive.

• Any form of hardware RAID and most software RAID solutions under every OS I'm familiar with is capable of providing disk information. Hardware controllers will give you the raw disk manufacturer, model and firmware:

  physicaldrive 3C:1:6
     Port: 3C
     Box: 1
     Bay: 6
     Status: OK
     Drive Type: Data Drive
     Interface Type: SATA
     Size: 1 TB
     Firmware Revision: 80.00A80
     Serial Number:      WD-WCAV5F799696
     Model: ATA     WDC WD10EARS-22Y
     SATA NCQ Capable: True
     SATA NCQ Enabled: True
     Current Temperature (C): 39
     Maximum Temperature (C): 53
     PHY Count: 1
     PHY Transfer Rate: 3.0Gbps

The only sensible way to ask for a replacement would be by knowing the slot number of the disk. It should be possible to map from the OS to the slot number but it requires calibration in that you need first to learn what identifies a slot and where it is physically.

The disk serial number of part number is not readable from the outside.