Client SSD Model Number Management in Dashboard
Introduction
The Model Number of a drive is a string defined per NVMe (Figure 1) or ATA (Figure 2) standard that is programmed in the IDENTIFY CONTROLLER or IDENTIFY DEVICE data structure to identify a unique device model for a given manufacturer.
Figure 1. NVMe Model Number specification
Figure 2 ATA Model Number specification
Within a generation of devices, Western Digital client devices may use the same hardware that is further customized by way of custom FW for different segments (e.g., OEM-specific, Channel or Retail). PCI SIG hardware certification covers all target product names when based off the same hardware. As such, Western Digital submits all target product names for certification. For NVMe drives, the base hardware is identified by a unique combination of VID and DID (Vendor and Device ID) programmed in the device.
Note that even though FW releases for various segments may share common hardware, each custom FW release is never compatible between different target applications.
In addition to the standard compliant Model Number of the device, Retail products have a brand Model name that is printed on the label of the device.
Dashboard tool for Retail and Channel drives
Western Digital provides a Dashboard tool to manage Retail and Channel drives that can be used to check general drive information, drive health, SMART, perform FW update, etc.
This tool is available for download from Western Digital support website.
https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=279
Retail Drive brand Model name and Model Number in Dashboard
In addition to the Model Number programmed in the IDENTIFY CONTROLLER or IDENTIFY DEVICE data structure according to NVMe or ATA specification, there is a brand Model name printed on the label of the Retail device. This brand Model name is to identify the brand of the drive. For example, WD Green, WD Blue or WD Black.
In order to display the brand Model name for Retail drives, Dashboard implements a mapping mechanism by way of a support database that allows it to map a specified Model Number to a brand Model name (e.g., WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD). This is displayed in the main Status window.
As an example, WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD may be based on either the base SN720 hardware or it’s subsequent hardware platform SN730. As such the dashboard will display the common brand name of SN750.
As part of general drive information, Dashboard displays the Model Number extracted from the IDENTIFY CONTROLLER or IDENTIFY DEVICE data in the orange pop-up in Figure 3 below.
Figure 3. Dashboard Status Window
Note the following:
- In order to provide full support for drives including Model Number mapping and applicable firmware updates as they are released, the Dashboard relies on a set of files maintained on-line on a Western Digital server. Dashboard must have access to these files via a live internet connection to offer full functionality. To maintain the latest database of configurations, a connection to the Western Digital portal is required. This ensures the local database is up to date and the Dashboard will display the assigned brand Model name for the product.
- While external tools may claim to support various drives available in the market, Western Digital does not endorse any external open-source or third party tool, unless specifically stated otherwise.
Summary
Dashboard shows the brand Model name in the main Status window. This brand Model name is derived by mapping the Model Number extracted from the IDENTIFY CONTROLLER or IDENTIFY DEVICE data to the brand Model name using an on-line Western Digital database.
The standard-compliant Model Number is shown in a pop-up in the main Status window.