The size of a block. See also block and striping.

The number of samples used in a DSA to compute the Fast Fourier Transform. Also the number of samples in a DSA time display. Most DSAs use a block size of 1024. Smaller block size reduces frequency resolution.

The largest amount of data that a UNIX filesystem will always allocate contiguously. For example, if a filesystem's block size is 8 KB, files of size up to 8 KB are always physically contiguous (i.e., in one place), rather than spread across the disk. Files that are larger than the filesystem's block size may be fragmented: 8 KB pieces of the file are located in different places on the disk. Fragmentation limits filesystem performance. Note that the filesystem block size is different from a disk's physical block size, which is almost always 512 bytes.

This term, when used with either error control or data compression protocols, refers to the number of characters to be sent at one time. If error control is used, the codes are sent immediately following this block.

See Block, above.