The concepts of sector and block.

stf92 · 12-12-2010, 06:55 AM

In the Linux/Unix jargon context, or more generally, in IT, what is the relation between sector and block. In the man pages of some programs, the two terms seem to be interchangable. Think about a fixed hard disk (HDD), for example.

stress_junkie · 12-12-2010, 07:00 AM

On the raw device sectors and blocks are the same thing and they are always 512 bytes in size.

Once you format a partition then the file system may use these same terms to refer to how the file system has organized the disk.

File systems may use sizes larger than 512 bytes in a file system sector. These days you see 4096 bytes as being very common in a simple disk and larger values for RAID disks.

TobiSGD · 12-12-2010, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stress_junkie

On the raw device sectors and blocks are the same thing and they are always 512 bytes in size.

On newer drives they can be 4096 bytes in size.

stf92 · 12-12-2010, 07:08 AM

Well then suppose the file system uses 4096-byte sectors. How long can the block be?