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QUESTION:

While configuring my web browser, I came across an option asking to set the size of the browser "cache." What is cache and how large should it be set?

ANSWER:

A cache (pronounced "cash") is an area of memory or hard disk space that is specifically reserved for the purpose of holding newly acquired information that has a high probability of being needed again in the very near future. Here's an example of how a browser cache works. When accessing a web site, it takes a certain period of time for it to load completely. After loading, you surf to another location. Then you decide to go back to the previous web site but when you return, it appears on your screen in a mere fraction of the time it took to load the first time. You have just experience the browser cache in action.

As you surf, the browser automatically stores text, graphics and other data from pages you visit into the cache. The idea is that if you decide to revisit a page that is already in the cache and nothing has changed since you last visited that page, the browser will pull the data from your hard drive rather than download it over again. Since data from your hard drive can be accessed at far greater speeds than from your modem's connection, you perceive its appearance on your screen more quickly and your surfing experience becomes a more streamlined experience. How many pages of information that can be stored depends on the size of the cache you set from the browser's preferences menu. It used to be that smaller cache allocations were more prudent with smaller hard drives but today's multi-gigabyte drives allow for larger caches without the overhead penalty. Modern web browsers know your hard drive's capacity and usually allocate around three percent of the total space to the browser's cache. Depending on your surfing style, you can adjust the cache size to more accurately reflect your needs. For example, if you tend to visit the same sites over and over again, make the cache larger. If you visit same sites infrequently, make it smaller.

If your computer is on a network, you might want to try CacheLink from Mangosoft. CacheLink creates a virtual cache that is shared by all the computers on a network. The idea here is that you benefit from other people's surfing. Basically, CacheLink keeps track of where everyone on the network goes and all of the sites that are stored in everyone's cache. So for example, when someone on the network goes to a web site to get a weather report, they have to wait for it to download. But if you decide later to visit the same weather web site, CacheLink knows that it's already in someone's cache and it's transferred via the network to your computer. And since most networks transfer data much faster than even the fastest modem connections, you'll see the weather site almost instantly. The more people on your network, the better CacheLink works. That's because CacheLink's shared cache size increases with each user plus there's a better chance that someone will have already visited and cached a site you want to visit.

CacheLink has some needed security features as well. The shared cache is anonymous so there is no way to tell where anyone on the network was surfing and from who's computer the cached information came. Also, secure web sites such as those requiring personal data like credit card numbers and other sensitive data are not placed into the shared cache.

CacheLink works with all types of Internet connections such as 56k, ADSL and cable modems and you will see proportionate speed increases with the faster services. Currently, CacheLink works only with Windows but a newer version that's soon to be released will work with Macintosh, Linux and Windows computers sharing the network. A copy of CacheLink is required on each computer on the network. CacheLink sells for $40 per computer and comes in sets of 5, 10, 20 and higher. Check with Mangosoft for more details at www.mangosoft.com.