Systems and methods of media management, such as management of media to and from a media storage library, including removable media

1. A computer-implemented method of automatically generating identifiers for storage devices, the method comprising:

automatically scanning the storage device to identify manufacturing defects, wherein the manufacturing defects relate to defects in a storage medium of the storage device;

automatically identifying characteristics associated with the identified manufacturing defects;

automatically generating an identifier for the storage device based on the identified characteristics associated with the identified manufacturing defects; and

storing the generated identifier to identify the storage device,

wherein the storage device does not contain an electronic serial number when manufactured, or

does contain an electronic serial number, but wherein the electronic serial number is not used as an identifier for the removable storage device, and

wherein the identifier for the removable storage device is not a digital picture of the removable storage device, and

wherein the identifier for the removable storage device is not fixed to packaging for the removable storage device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the storage device is a magnetic disk drive, and wherein the identifying comprises identifying bad sectors or portions on the magnetic disk drive.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the storage device is a semiconductor memory drive, and wherein the identifying comprises identifying bad memory cells, enabled redundant memory cells, or both.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating includes performing a hashing function.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating includes algorithmically combining the identified locations or addresses for the defects with known data to generate the unique identifier or tracking value.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristics associated with the defects comprise the location of the defects.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristics associated with the defects comprise the quantity of the defects.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the generated identifier is substantially unique.

9. A tangible computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when implemented by a computer, perform a method of automatically generating identifiers for storage devices, the method comprising:

automatically scanning the storage device to identify manufacturing defects, wherein the manufacturing defects relate to defects in a storage medium of the storage device;

automatically identifying characteristics associated with the identified manufacturing defects;

automatically generating an identifier for the storage device based on the identified characteristics associated with the identified manufacturing defects; and

storing the generated identifier to identify the storage device,

wherein the storage device does not contain an electronic serial number when manufactured, or

does contain an electronic serial number, but wherein the electronic serial number is not used as an identifier for the removable storage device, and

wherein the identifier for the removable storage device is not a digital picture of the removable storage device, and

wherein the identifier for the removable storage device is not fixed to packaging for the removable storage device.

10. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the storage device is a magnetic disk drive, and wherein the identifying comprises identifying bad sectors or portions on the magnetic disk drive.

11. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the storage device is a semiconductor memory drive, and wherein the identifying comprises identifying bad memory cells, enabled redundant memory cells, or both.

12. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the generating includes algorithmically combining the identified locations or addresses for the defects with known data to generate the unique identifier or tracking value.

13. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the identifier is configured for use in tracking the storage device.

14. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the characteristics associated with the defects comprise the location of the defects.

15. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the characteristics associated with the defects comprise the quantity of the defects.

16. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the generated identifier is substantially unique.

17. A computer-implementable method of performing storage operations on a removable storage device, the method comprising:

identifying the removable storage device based on an identifier stored on the device,

wherein the identifier is not a label affixed to the removable storage device, and

wherein the removable storage device does not contain an electronic serial number when it leaves a manufacturer,

or does contain an electronic serial number, but wherein the electronic serial number is not used as an identifier for the removable storage device, and

wherein the identifier for the removable storage device is not a digital picture of the removable storage device, and

wherein the identifier for the removable storage device is not fixed to packaging for the removable storage device;

determining a last time a storage operation was performed on the removable storage device based on the identifier; and

when a storage operation criteria is met,

then performing the storage operation on the removable storage device.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the storage operation criteria comprises determining the amount of data written to the removable storage device since the storage operation was last performed.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the storage operation criteria comprises determining the capacity of the removable storage device.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the storage operation criteria comprises determining access control information associated with the removable storage device.