syssocketh

Syssocketh is a theoretical system-level socket abstraction used in computer systems research and education to illustrate how an operating system might expose and manage network sockets across kernel and user space. It is not a standard implemented by major operating systems, but rather a conceptual model found in academic discussions and teaching materials to compare interface design choices.

In the syssocketh model, the socket interface is designed to provide a uniform, portable API that can be mapped onto different underlying transports such as TCP/IP, Unix domain sockets, or virtual network interfaces. It emphasizes a clean separation between the socket API and the networking stack, supports asynchronous I/O, and often includes a policy layer for authentication, encryption, and access control. The design typically supports both blocking and non-blocking semantics, and it may integrate with event notification mechanisms similar to poll, epoll, or select.

Architecturally, syssocketh can be realized either as a kernel-space abstraction, a user-space library that interfaces with kernel sockets, or as a lightweight interposition layer in a microkernel or unikernel environment. It is frequently used to study socket virtualization, network namespace isolation, and user-space networking stacks that aim to reduce kernel overhead or to offer programmable networking features.

See also: sockets, socket API, epoll, network virtualization, user-space networking.