diff --git a/dlio_benchmark/utils/config.py b/dlio_benchmark/utils/config.py
index 2f8bb8fb..ceae850a 100644
--- a/dlio_benchmark/utils/config.py
+++ b/dlio_benchmark/utils/config.py
@@ -182,6 +182,12 @@ class ConfigArguments:
     record_element_bytes: int = 4
     record_element_dtype: ClassVar[np.dtype] = np.dtype("uint8")
 
+    ## dataset: parquet-only
+    parquet_columns: ClassVar[List[Dict[str, Any]]] = []
+    parquet_row_group_size: int = 1024
+    parquet_partition_by: Optional[str] = None
+    parquet_generation_batch_size: int = 0
+
     ## dataset: hdf5-only
     num_dset_per_record: int = 1
     chunk_dims: ClassVar[List[int]] = []
@@ -1123,6 +1129,19 @@ def LoadConfig(args, config):
         if 'record_dims' in config['dataset']:
             args.record_dims = list(config['dataset']['record_dims'])
 
+        # parquet only config
+        if 'parquet' in config['dataset']:
+            pq_cfg = config['dataset']['parquet']
+            if 'columns' in pq_cfg:
+                cols = pq_cfg['columns']
+                args.parquet_columns = [dict(c) if hasattr(c, 'items') else c for c in cols]
+            if 'row_group_size' in pq_cfg:
+                args.parquet_row_group_size = int(pq_cfg['row_group_size'])
+            if 'partition_by' in pq_cfg:
+                args.parquet_partition_by = str(pq_cfg['partition_by'])
+            if 'generation_batch_size' in pq_cfg:
+                args.parquet_generation_batch_size = int(pq_cfg['generation_batch_size'])
+
         # hdf5 only config
         if 'hdf5' in config['dataset']:
             if 'chunk_dims' in config['dataset']['hdf5']:
diff --git a/dlio_benchmark/utils/statscounter.py b/dlio_benchmark/utils/statscounter.py
index e085541a..7caef6f8 100644
--- a/dlio_benchmark/utils/statscounter.py
+++ b/dlio_benchmark/utils/statscounter.py
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.my_rank = self.args.my_rank
         self.comm_size = self.args.comm_size
         self.output_folder = self.args.output_folder
-        self.record_size = self.args.record_length
         self.batch_size = self.args.batch_size
         self.batch_size_eval = self.args.batch_size_eval
         self.checkpoint_size = 0.0
@@ -121,7 +120,7 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.eval_au = []
         self.train_throughput = []
         self.eval_throughput = []
-        data_per_node = self.MPI.npernode()*self.args.num_samples_per_file * self.args.num_files_train//self.MPI.size()*self.args.record_length
+        data_per_node = self.MPI.npernode()*self.args.num_samples_per_file * self.args.num_files_train//self.MPI.size()*self.record_size
         self.summary['data_size_per_host_GB'] = data_per_node/1024./1024./1024.
         if self.MPI.rank() == 0 and self.args.do_train:
             self.logger.info(f"Total amount of data each host will consume is {data_per_node/1024./1024./1024} GiB; each host has {self.summary['host_memory_GB']} GiB memory") 
@@ -137,6 +136,27 @@ def __init__(self):
                 potential_caching.append(1)
         self.summary['potential_caching'] = potential_caching
 
+    @property
+    def record_size(self):
+        """Return the effective per-sample size in bytes.
+
+        Uses parquet column specs when available, otherwise falls back to
+        the legacy record_length field.
+        """
+        parquet_cols = getattr(self.args, 'parquet_columns', [])
+        if parquet_cols:
+            _DTYPE_BYTES = {
+                'float64': 8, 'int64': 8, 'uint64': 8,
+                'float32': 4, 'int32': 4, 'uint32': 4,
+                'float16': 2, 'int16': 2, 'uint16': 2,
+                'uint8': 1, 'int8': 1, 'bool': 1,
+            }
+            return sum(
+                int(c.get('size', 1)) * _DTYPE_BYTES.get(c.get('dtype', 'float32'), 4)
+                for c in parquet_cols
+            )
+        return self.args.record_length
+
     def start_run(self):
         self.start_run_timestamp = time()
     def end_run(self):