diff --git a/src/common/Makefile.am b/src/common/Makefile.am
--- a/src/common/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/common/Makefile.am
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 pkglib_LTLIBRARIES = libdistrencommon.la
 
-libdistrencommon_la_SOURCES = options.c options.h execio.h execio.c
+libdistrencommon_la_SOURCES = options.c options.h execio.h execio.c remoteio.h remoteio.c
 #evidently the following should not be LDADD, but LDFLAGS because automake doesn't like the idea of LDADD for libraries for some reason... or I am very confused
 libdistrencommon_la_LIBADD = @DISTLIBS_LIBS@
 libdistrencommon_la_CXXFLAGS = @DISTLIBS_CFLAGS@
diff --git a/src/common/remoteio.c b/src/common/remoteio.c
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/remoteio.c
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/*
+  Copyright 2009 Nathan Phillip Brink
+
+  This file is a part of DistRen.
+
+  DistRen is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  DistRen is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+  along with DistRen.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+*/
+
+#include "remoteio.h"
+
diff --git a/src/common/remoteio.h b/src/common/remoteio.h
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/remoteio.h
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+  Copyright 2008 Nathan Phillip Brink, Ethan Zonca
+
+  This file is a part of DistRen.
+
+  DistRen is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  DistRen is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+  along with DistRen.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#ifndef _DISTREN_REMOTEIO_H
+#define _DISTREN_REMOTEIO_H
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+/*
+  RemoteIO provides an abstraction to the method of talking to a remote distrend. It is a layer on top of execio that should provide an equivalent interface.
+ */
+
+struct remoteio {
+  struct execio *execio;
+};
+
+/**
+   Opens connection with remote distrend. Returns 1 on error.
+
+   @todo should this be asynchronous?
+ */
+int remoteio_open(struct remoteio **rem, const char *servername);
+
+/**
+   non-blocking I/O.
+   @return 0 on success, 1 on failure
+ */
+int remoteio_read(struct remoteio *rem, void *buf, size_t len, size_t *bytesread);
+int remoteio_write(struct remoteio *rem, void *buf, size_t len, size_t *byteswritten);
+
+/**
+   Closes a remoteio session.
+   @return nonzero on error
+*/
+int remoteio_close(struct remoteio *rem);
+
+#endif