purpose of creating smaller segmented stream f4f files?

What the purpose behind creating smaller individual segmented stream f4f files instead of just creating a single large f4f file?

If I removed the SegmentDuration and DiskManagementDuration parameters from the event.xml file so I can create a single f4f file, would there be any issues with streaming or performance? 

<Event>

  <EventID>cfhs</EventID>

  <Recording>

    <SegmentDuration>400000</SegmentDuration>

    <DiskManagementDuration>3</DiskManagementDuration>

  </Recording>

</Event>

TO

<Event>

  <EventID>cfhs</EventID>

  <Recording>

          <FragmentDuration>4000</FragmentDuration>

  </Recording>

</Event>