A method for allocating space on a disk involving receiving a request to allocate space on the disk having a first size, determining whether contiguous space of the first size exists on the disk. If contiguous space of the first size exists on the disk, allocating the contiguous space on the disk to obtain a contiguous space address, and responding to the request to allocate space on disk with a contiguous space pointer. If no contiguous space of the first size exists on the disk, allocating a gang block header, populating the gang block header, and responding to the request to allocate space on the disk with a gang block header pointer.