How can I see which computers have a SSD drive?

Products

• IT Management Suite
• IT Management Suite
• Client Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

Administrators need to identify the storage types of managed endpoints. In virtualized environments (VMware, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Azure), standard hardware identification often labels drives as "Virtual" or "Persistent," making it difficult to distinguish the underlying performance tier.

This article provides a query that can be used to identify computers that have a virtual and/or SSD drive

Environment

ITMS 8.7.x, 8.8

Cause

The storage report for this environment utilizes the Inv_HW_Storage data class. Because the endpoints are virtual machines, the Display Name and Interface Type reflect the virtualized storage controller (SCSI) rather than physical hardware traits.

Resolution

Windows does not allow a reliable way to collect information about a SSD disks. However you can identify the SSDs from the Inv_HW_Logical_Device data class. You can use the following query to create your own report:

 

SELECT v.[Name] AS [Computer Name],
      cs.[Model] AS [Computer Model],
     hwl.[Model],
     ld.[Device ID] as Drive,
     CAST((ISNULL(ld.[Size (Bytes)], 0)/(1024 * 1024 * 1024)) AS DECIMAL (10, 2)) AS 'Total Disk Space (GB)',
     CAST((ISNULL(ld.[Free Space (Bytes)], 0)/(1024 * 1024 * 1024)) AS DECIMAL (10, 2)) AS 'Free Disk Space (GB)'
  FROM vrm_Computer_item v
INNER JOIN Inv_HW_Logical_Device hwl
ON v.Guid = hwl._ResourceGuid
INNER JOIN vHWComputerSystem cs
ON cs._ResourceGuid = v.Guid
INNER JOIN Inv_HW_Logical_Disk ld
ON ld._ResourceGuid = v.Guid
WHERE hwl.Model like '%SSD%'

 

 

Optimized SQL Query

We have adjusted the logic to specifically identify virtual disk types as well. Use this version to get a cleaner breakdown of your "Virtual" vs "Cloud" storage.

The following query has been improved for better performance and clarity compared to the original KB. It provides the Computer Name, Model, Disk Caption, and Media Type. This query uses our column names to identify SSDs. It calculates the size in GB from Kilobytes and looks for "SSD" or "NVMe" within the Display Name and Interface Type fields.

1. Open the Symantec Management Console.

2. Navigate to Reports > All Reports.

3. Right-click the folder where you want to save the report and select New > Report > SQL Report.

4. In the Parameterized Query tab, paste the following SQL:

SELECT
   vc.Name AS [Computer Name],
   st.[Display Name] AS [Drive Name],
   st.[Interface Type],
   CAST((st.[Max Media Size (Kilobytes)] / 1024.0 / 1024.0) AS DECIMAL(10,2)) AS [Size (GB)],
   CASE 
      WHEN st.[Display Name] LIKE '%VMware%' THEN 'Virtual (VMware)'
      WHEN st.[Display Name] LIKE '%Google%' THEN 'Virtual (GCP)'
      WHEN st.[Display Name] LIKE '%SSD%' THEN 'Physical SSD'
      WHEN st.[Interface Type] LIKE '%SCSI%' THEN 'Virtual SCSI'
      ELSE 'Other / Unknown'
   END AS [Storage Category]
FROM vComputer vc
JOIN Inv_HW_Storage st ON vc.Guid = st._ResourceGuid
WHERE vc.IsManaged = 1
AND st.[Device ID] LIKE '%PhysicalDrive%'
ORDER BY vc.Name

 

• Interpretation:

  • VMware Virtual disk: Indicates a local or SAN-backed disk presented by ESXi.

  • Google PersistentDisk: Indicates cloud-native block storage.

• Note on Accuracy: To see the "Physical" underlying disk (SSD vs HDD) for a VM, you would typically need to query the Hypervisor (vCenter/GCP Console) rather than the Guest OS, as the Guest is shielded from that hardware detail.
  The accuracy of the "Media Type" depends on the hardware driver reporting it correctly to Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Older RAID controllers may sometimes report SSDs as "Standard Disk Drive."