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SETIBuf is a program written by Terry Lee for buffering SETI work units in the event of the SETI server going down at UCB. The program buffers 9 work units by default (it can use as many as you like) and is designed for a multitude of configurations to suit almost all requirements it work with SETILog and SETIWatch which are excellent monitoring and logging utilities.

SETIBuf is one of the better buffering programs IMO, however each has its own advantages and disadvantages. I chose SETIBuf as it was more configurable for my particular situation than the others I tried (SETIQueue and SETICache). There are a few more utilities available now but I haven't tried these as SETIBuf has worked seamlessly for nearly 8 months now.
The program is basically a series of dos batch files that manipulate the SETI files to perform WU buffering. The main thing that I found neat with SETIBuf was that a comprehensive help file is included detailing how to configure it for several different scenarios, it is recommended that this is read before any installation is carried out. This prevents making a cock up later.....if in doubt RTFM!!. I'm not going to give any details of installation as the author of the program has done one hell of a job and the manual can be followed by anyone who is slightly familiar with creating shortcuts, batch files and modifying filenames. If you can't do any of these I guess you should look to some of the GUI based buffering utilities listed further down the page.

The main features that made me use it initially was the fact that is easily setup to run on machines that never have an Internet connection, I also tryed SETICache at around the same time and found although it was very easy to setup. For somewho doesn't want to tweak the may a program work SETICache would have been ok however it was not fit for purpose as it did not lend itself being to moved from machine to machine because this involved some registry editing which with multiple machines was a pain compared to moving a directory of batch files.. I had several machines on a closed LAN at work that the only way I could get SETI to them was either on disk or via my Laptop. This would be impractical without SETIBuf as some of the machines completed WU's every 6-15 hours so I would never have been able to keep them running efficiently especially at weekends when we all went home. SETIBuf was cool in this respect as all the files where contained in one directory so I simply plugged my laptop into the LAN grabbed each of the SETI directories from the LAN machines. The laptop had directories for each of the machines allowing me via shortcuts on the laptop to send and receive the data from the SETI servers and restart the machines. The number of work units buffered is also configurable allowing you to change the number of buffers on each machine depending on its speed, some of my faster machines had 27 wu's buffered to keep them going for a week unattended, this was nearly always enough to avoid the outages from the SETI servers.
The program also supports multiple processors and as many work units as you like per CPU. By far the feature I like the most is the fact that you can observe progress of all the machines on your LAN from a single machine using SETIWatch. I have all my home LAN machine drives mapped to a single machine with each work unit directory monitored by SETIWatch (154 WU in total). The shortcuts on the single Internet connected machine allow me to send/receive remotely. The send/receive can be run without disturbing processing, however the only disadvantage is that you have to access the machine itself to restart processing if that particular machine has finished its buffers. The program logs all activity at multiple levels on each machine, SETIWatch gives you stats for each buffer directory, each batch of 9 buffers, each CPU, each machine and overall totals. It also give future predictions based on previous production and a neat Sky Map showing you where you work units came from in the sky as seen from Arecibo.

The author also tends to keep up to speed with migrating from one version of the SETI commandline to the next and usually releases a version that will seamlessly upgrade you from one version to the next. (Its worked well from 1.2--->2.0 and 2.0---->2.4 with no problems)

The only recommendation I would give if you try SETIBuf is to Read the F**king manual. Oh yeah and the author is very happy to answer any problems.

Other utilities include: (These excerpts are taken from the relative web sites for the utility)
SETIDriver
The first Microsoft Windows dialog based manager for processing and caching SETI@Home work units. Residing in your system tray, SETI Driver features automatic detection and use of all processors in your system, user resizable caching, transmit while processing, status monitoring of the currently processing work unit, both by itself and with SETI Spy, and it never looses a work unit.

SETIHide
What it does: -> Hides the SETI@home cmdline client, so the DOS-box doesn't bother you. -> Displays the performance of your machine in a chart. -> Writes a log entry for every WU processed. (Time, average, etc.) -> Supports WU caching up to 50 work-units. -> Starts the SETI@home client on windows startup, if desired. -> Can be run hidden also. -> Can be run in the SystemTray.

SETIStash
SetiStash is a Windows 98/NT/2000 program to manage work unit (WU) processing with the SETI@Home Command Line Interface (CLI) program. SetiStash provides a Windows interface to manage the CLI and cache work units for non-stop work unit processing. You can learn more about the SETI@Home Search for Extraterrestrial Life project at the SETI@Home web site. SetiStash lets you manage the CLI using an easy to use Windows interface instead of clunky DOS commands and batch files.

SETIManager
Management of SETI clients with automatically switching to the next workunit if the calculated one is ready. Additionally you can monitoring several clients (e.g. at other computers). Features: switchs between several SETI clients, if a workunit is ready or the running client shows no progress supports up to 99 SETI clients (possibility to calculate several weeks without user intervention) higher independence from the availability of SETI@home server calculate the each oldest workunit to avoid the workunits on your PC will become too old and the SETI server send this workunits again monitoring of clients (e.g. from other computers) as much as one likes the current progress of the running client is showing by an icon in taskbar.

SETICache
SETICache, pronounced "SET-E-CASH", is a utility to Cache 10 Work Units (WU) for the SETI Command Line Client (CLC) version 2.0. The CLC is completely stock, no modifications to it have been done at all, this is strictly a utility to better use the CLC on your computer. SETICache enables you to keep processing even when SETI isn't reachable to send in a completed WU and grab a new WU, because you've got 9 more WU already cached and ready to be processed. SETI users who are connected via modem also have a big benefit because they can now process 10 WU's before they need to connect to the Internet to send and receive WU's.

SETIQueue
SETI Queue is a utility that adds queuing to the SETI@home application. It's a fun project that allows people to take part in the great search for stray radio signals from space by using spare computer power on machines across the globe. Unfortunately demand for the tiny bits of radio signals from the now millions of SETI@home applications running throughout the world occasionally seems to outpace the ability to get them. SETI Queue puts a buffer between the SETI@home application and the SETI Server.