Intended for students in IT, MIS, Software Engineering, and IS Management, this book is designed to enhance student understanding of hardware system architecture. The book is not about the digital circuits and components of the systems, but concentrates on the principles used in hardware system design and the methods used for enhancing performance. In addition, it includes several chapters dedicated to future and emerging architectures related not only to computer systems, but to appliances such as embedded systems, mobile devices, and more.