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The unit of allocation in VxFS is a block. Unlike some other UNIX file systems, VxFS does not make use of block fragments for allocation because storage is allocated in extents that consist of one or more blocks.
You specify the block size when creating a file system by using the mkfs -o bsize option. The block size cannot be altered after the file system is created. The smallest available block size for VxFS is 1K, which is also the default block size.
Choose a block size based on the type of application being run. For example, if there are many small files, a 1K block size may save space. For large file systems, with relatively few files, a larger block size is more appropriate. Larger block sizes use less disk space in file system overhead, but consume more space for files that are not a multiple of the block size. The easiest way to judge which block sizes provide the greatest system efficiency is to try representative system loads against various sizes and pick the fastest. For most applications, it is best to use the default values.
For 64-bit kernels, which support 32 terabyte file systems, the block size determines the maximum size of the file system you can create. File systems up to 4 TB require a 1K block size. For four to eight terabyte file systems, the block size is 2K, For file systems between 8 and 16 TB, block size is 4K, and for greater than 16 TB, the block size is 8K. If you specify the file system size when creating a file system, the block size defaults to these values.
See VxFS Version 5 disk layout.