Analysis for the end of block wasted space

The problem examined in this report is the calculation of the average wasted space at the end of the block when variable length records are inserted in the file. Previous efforts are based in approximations. Here, a detailed analysis based on Markov chains gives the exact solution. A framework is presented which shows the relations between the previous approaches. The proposed model includes the previous models as special limiting cases. Simulation results close to the analytic results are also presented.This research was sponsored partially by the National Science Foundation under the grants DCR-86-16833, IRI-8719458 and IRI-8958546 and by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under grant AFOSR-89-0303.