To configure S.M.A.R.T. monitoring, there is a configuration file at /etc/smartd.conf. That control file and several web pages I've seen, indicate that the configuration file should be customized by identifying each device and the smartctl parameters that should be assigned to it.
All well and good, except that smartctl apparently still uses the (slightly unpredictable) standard of identifying devices by name (such as /dev/sda, /dev/sdb and so on). Years ago, the kernel developers saw the issue with this and switched to better methods of identification, particularly UUID, PARTUUID, and LABEL. But, unless I'm missing it, smartctl seems not as "smart" as we would like.
When I start a particular system, the drives that house a RAID configuration may be /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, ... /dev/sdh. But if there happens to be a flash drive inserted at boot, those names will switch to /dev/sdb, ... /dev/sdi. And if there are two USB drives attached, they might shift more. Or on the next boot, they might not.
What are others doing (PLEASE don't just suggest leaving the USB slot empty - that's a cheat, and not a reliable one) to avoid this, and ensure the S.M.A.R.T. configuration is appropriate for the mounted devices?
