Shoebox sized and smaller, small form factor PCs can pack as much computing muscle as anything from a PDA to a full-sized desktop computer. They consume less power, have few or no moving parts, and are very quiet. Whether you plan to use one as a standalone PC or want to embed it in your next hacking project, a small form factor PC may be the next thing you build."Small Form Factor PCs" is the only book available that shows you how to build small form factor PCs -- from kits and from scratch -- that are more interesting and more personalized than what a full-sized PC can give you. Included in the book are projects for building personal video recorders, versatile wireless access points, digital audio jukeboxes, portable firewalls, and much more. This book shows you how to build eight different systems, from the shoebox-sized Shuttle system down to the stick-of-gum sized gumstix. With thorough illustrations and step-by-step instructions, "Small Form Factor PCs" makes it easy for anyone who wants to get started building these tiny systems. Small form factor computing is taking off, and this guide is an absolute must for anyone who wants to get in on the launch.

Squid is the most popular Web caching software in use today, and it works on a variety of platforms including Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows. Squid improves network performance by reducing the amount of bandwidth used when surfing the Web. It makes web pages load faster and can even reduce the load on your web server. By caching and reusing popular web content, Squid allows you to get by with smaller network connections. It also protects the host on your internal network by acting as a firewall and proxying your internal web traffic. You can use Squid to collect statistics about the traffic on your network, prevent users from visiting inappropriate web sites at work or school, ensure that only authorized users can surf the Internet, and enhance your privacy by filtering sensitive information from web requests. Companies, schools, libraries, and organizations that use web-caching proxies can look forward to a multitude of benefits.

Written by Duane Wessels, the creator of Squid, "Squid: The Definitive Guide" will help you configure and tune Squid for your particular situation. Newcomers to Squid will learn how to download, compile, and install code. Seasoned users of Squid will be interested in the later chapters, which tackle advanced topics such as high-performance storage options, rewriting requests, HTTP server acceleration, monitoring, debugging, and troubleshooting Squid.

Topics covered include:

Compiling and installing Squid

Running Squid

Using Squid's sophisticated access controls

Tuning disk storage for optimal performance

Configuring your operating system for HTTP interception

Forwarding Requests to other web caches

Using redirectors to rewrite userrequests

Monitoring Squid with the cache manager and SNMP

Using Squid to accelerate and protect HTTP servers

Managing bandwidth consumption with Delay Pools