Use /dev/disk/by-id instead of the device name for hard disks

I have a problem that is very irritating. Most of the time when I
reboot my hard drives change devices. Not only that but udev will
sometimes skip four devices. In other words, it will use
a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h or a,f,g,h,i,j,k,l. So that means I have to always use
twelve slots for my drives even though I only have eight. Weird that it
would sometimes skip b,c, and d but that is my problem.
P.S. I have a pci sata card installed. That is probably doing it.