diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Http/Listener.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Http/Listener.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..720db481fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Http/Listener.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+using Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel.Networking;
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Net;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Summary description for Accept
+    /// </summary>
+    public class Listener : IDisposable
+    {
+        private readonly KestrelThread _thread;
+        UvTcpHandle _socket;
+        private readonly Action<UvStreamHandle, int, object> _connectionCallback = ConnectionCallback;
+
+        private static void ConnectionCallback(UvStreamHandle stream, int status, object state)
+        {
+            ((Listener)state).OnConnection(stream, status);
+        }
+
+        public Listener(KestrelThread thread)
+        {
+            _thread = thread;
+        }
+
+        public Task StartAsync()
+        {
+            var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<int>();
+            _thread.Post(OnStart, tcs);
+            return tcs.Task;
+        }
+
+        public void OnStart(object parameter)
+        {
+            var tcs = (TaskCompletionSource<int>)parameter;
+            try
+            {
+                _socket = new UvTcpHandle();
+                _socket.Init(_thread.Loop);
+                _socket.Bind(new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any, 4001));
+                _socket.Listen(10, _connectionCallback, this);
+                tcs.SetResult(0);
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                tcs.SetException(ex);
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void OnConnection(UvStreamHandle socket, int status)
+        {
+            var connection = new UvTcpHandle();
+            connection.Init(_thread.Loop);
+            socket.Accept(connection);
+            connection.ReadStart(OnRead, null);
+        }
+
+        private void OnRead(UvStreamHandle socket, int count, byte[] data, object _)
+        {
+            var text = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(data);
+            if (count <= 0)
+            {
+                socket.Close();
+            }
+        }
+
+        public void Dispose()
+        {
+            var socket = _socket;
+            _socket = null;
+            _thread.Post(OnDispose, socket);
+        }
+
+        private void OnDispose(object socket)
+        {
+            ((UvHandle)socket).Close();
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Infrastructure/Disposable.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Infrastructure/Disposable.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9bb2a7f4bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Infrastructure/Disposable.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+using System;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Summary description for Disposable
+    /// </summary>
+    public class Disposable : IDisposable
+    {
+        private Action _dispose;
+
+        public Disposable(Action dispose)
+        {
+            _dispose = dispose;
+        }
+
+        #region IDisposable Support
+        private bool disposedValue = false; // To detect redundant calls
+
+        protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
+        {
+            if (!disposedValue)
+            {
+                if (disposing)
+                {
+                    _dispose.Invoke();
+                }
+
+                _dispose = null;
+                disposedValue = true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // This code added to correctly implement the disposable pattern.
+        public void Dispose()
+        {
+            // Do not change this code. Put cleanup code in Dispose(bool disposing) above.
+            Dispose(true);
+            GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
+        }
+        #endregion
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Infrastructure/KestrelThread.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Infrastructure/KestrelThread.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..83dd84a4a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Infrastructure/KestrelThread.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+using Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel.Networking;
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Summary description for KestrelThread
+    /// </summary>
+    public class KestrelThread
+    {
+        KestrelEngine _engine;
+        Thread _thread;
+        UvLoopHandle _loop;
+        UvAsyncHandle _post;
+        Queue<Work> _workAdding = new Queue<Work>();
+        Queue<Work> _workRunning = new Queue<Work>();
+        object _workSync = new Object();
+        bool _stopImmediate = false;
+
+        public KestrelThread(KestrelEngine engine)
+        {
+            _engine = engine;
+            _loop = new UvLoopHandle();
+            _post = new UvAsyncHandle();
+            _thread = new Thread(ThreadStart);
+        }
+
+        public UvLoopHandle Loop { get { return _loop; } }
+
+        public Task StartAsync()
+        {
+            var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<int>();
+            _thread.Start(tcs);
+            return tcs.Task;
+        }
+
+        public void Stop(TimeSpan timeout)
+        {
+            Post(OnStop, null);
+            if (!_thread.Join(timeout))
+            {
+                Post(OnStopImmediate, null);
+                if (!_thread.Join(timeout))
+                {
+                    _thread.Abort();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void OnStop(object obj)
+        {
+            _post.Unreference();
+        }
+
+        private void OnStopImmediate(object obj)
+        {
+            _stopImmediate = true;
+            _loop.Stop();
+        }
+
+        public void Post(Action<object> callback, object state)
+        {
+            lock (_workSync)
+            {
+                _workAdding.Enqueue(new Work { Callback = callback, State = state });
+            }
+            _post.Send();
+        }
+
+        private void ThreadStart(object parameter)
+        {
+            var tcs = (TaskCompletionSource<int>)parameter;
+            try
+            {
+                _loop.Init(_engine.Libuv);
+                _post.Init(_loop, OnPost);
+                tcs.SetResult(0);
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                tcs.SetException(ex);
+            }
+            var ran1 = _loop.Run();
+            if (_stopImmediate)
+            {
+                // thread-abort form of exit, resources will be leaked
+                return;
+            }
+
+            // run the loop one more time to delete the _post handle
+            _post.Reference();
+            _post.Close();
+            var ran2 = _loop.Run();
+
+            // delete the last of the unmanaged memory
+            _loop.Close();
+        }
+
+        private void OnPost()
+        {
+            var queue = _workAdding;
+            lock (_workSync)
+            {
+                _workAdding = _workRunning;
+            }
+            _workRunning = queue;
+            while (queue.Count != 0)
+            {
+                var work = queue.Dequeue();
+                try
+                {
+                    work.Callback(work.State);
+                }
+                catch (Exception ex)
+                {
+                    //TODO: unhandled exceptions
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        private struct Work
+        {
+            public Action<object> Callback;
+            public object State;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/KestrelEngine.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/KestrelEngine.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b404d6eb63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/KestrelEngine.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+
+using System;
+using Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel.Networking;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel
+{
+    public class KestrelEngine
+    {
+
+        public KestrelEngine()
+        {
+            Threads = new List<KestrelThread>();
+            Listeners = new List<Listener>();
+            Libuv = new Libuv();
+            Libuv.Load("libuv.dll");
+        }
+
+        public Libuv Libuv { get; private set; }
+        public List<KestrelThread> Threads { get; private set; }
+        public List<Listener> Listeners { get; private set; }
+
+        public void Start(int count)
+        {
+            for (var index = 0; index != count; ++index)
+            {
+                Threads.Add(new KestrelThread(this));
+            }
+
+            foreach (var thread in Threads)
+            {
+                thread.StartAsync().Wait();
+            }
+        }
+
+        public void Stop()
+        {
+            foreach (var thread in Threads)
+            {
+                thread.Stop(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(45));
+            }
+            Threads.Clear();
+        }
+
+        public IDisposable CreateServer()
+        {
+            var listeners = new List<Listener>();
+            foreach (var thread in Threads)
+            {
+                var listener = new Listener(thread);
+                listener.StartAsync().Wait();
+                listeners.Add(listener);
+            }
+            return new Disposable(() =>
+            {
+                foreach (var listener in listeners)
+                {
+                    listener.Dispose();
+                }
+            });
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/Libuv.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/Libuv.cs
index 2431574d4e..17a2299a44 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/Libuv.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/Libuv.cs
@@ -78,6 +78,23 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel.Networking
             _uv_stop(handle);
         }
 
+        [UnmanagedFunctionPointer(CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
+        delegate void uv_ref(UvHandle handle);
+        uv_ref _uv_ref;
+        public void @ref(UvHandle handle)
+        {
+            _uv_ref(handle);
+        }
+
+        [UnmanagedFunctionPointer(CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
+        delegate void uv_unref(UvHandle handle);
+        uv_unref _uv_unref;
+        public void unref(UvHandle handle)
+        {
+            _uv_unref(handle);
+        }
+
+
         [UnmanagedFunctionPointer(CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
         public delegate void uv_close_cb(IntPtr handle);
         [UnmanagedFunctionPointer(CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UcAsyncHandle.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UcAsyncHandle.cs
index 6d8f919abb..d09b815e75 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UcAsyncHandle.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UcAsyncHandle.cs
@@ -12,9 +12,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel.Networking
 
         unsafe static void AsyncCb(IntPtr handle)
         {
-            GCHandle gcHandle = GCHandle.FromIntPtr(*(IntPtr*)handle);
-            var self = (UvAsyncHandle)gcHandle.Target;
-            self._callback.Invoke();
+            FromIntPtr<UvAsyncHandle>(handle)._callback.Invoke();
         }
 
         private Action _callback;
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UvHandle.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UvHandle.cs
index d03240e45c..033c649484 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UvHandle.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UvHandle.cs
@@ -54,5 +54,21 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel.Networking
             }
             Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(memory);
         }
+
+        unsafe public static THandle FromIntPtr<THandle>(IntPtr handle)
+        {
+            GCHandle gcHandle = GCHandle.FromIntPtr(*(IntPtr*)handle);
+            return (THandle)gcHandle.Target;
+        }
+
+        public void Reference()
+        {
+            _uv.@ref(this);
+        }
+
+        public void Unreference()
+        {
+            _uv.unref(this);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UvStreamHandle.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UvStreamHandle.cs
index 1436852863..e4d33aa849 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UvStreamHandle.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel/Networking/UvStreamHandle.cs
@@ -8,24 +8,25 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel.Networking
 {
     public abstract class UvStreamHandle : UvHandle
     {
-        private Libuv.uv_connection_cb _connection_cb;
-        private Libuv.uv_alloc_cb _alloc_cb;
-        private Libuv.uv_read_cb _read_cb;
+        private readonly static Libuv.uv_connection_cb _uv_connection_cb = UvConnectionCb;
+        private readonly static Libuv.uv_alloc_cb _uv_alloc_cb = UvAllocCb;
+        private readonly static Libuv.uv_read_cb _uv_read_cb = UvReadCb;
 
-        private Action<int, UvStreamHandle> _connection;
-        private Action<int, UvStreamHandle> _alloc;
-        private Action<int, byte[], UvStreamHandle> _read;
+        public Action<UvStreamHandle, int, object> _connectionCallback;
+        public object _connectionState;
 
-        public void Listen(int backlog, Action<int, UvStreamHandle> connection)
+        public Action<UvStreamHandle, int, byte[], object> _readCallback;
+        public object _readState;
+
+        public UvStreamHandle()
         {
-            _connection_cb = OnConnection;
-            _connection = connection;
-            _uv.listen(this, 10, _connection_cb);
         }
 
-        public void OnConnection(IntPtr server, int status)
+        public void Listen(int backlog, Action<UvStreamHandle, int, object> callback, object state)
         {
-            _connection(status, this);
+            _connectionCallback = callback;
+            _connectionState = state;
+            _uv.listen(this, 10, _uv_connection_cb);
         }
 
         public void Accept(UvStreamHandle handle)
@@ -33,42 +34,52 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel.Networking
             _uv.accept(this, handle);
         }
 
-        public void ReadStart(Action<int, byte[], UvStreamHandle> read)
+        public void ReadStart(
+            Action<UvStreamHandle, int, byte[], object> callback, 
+            object state)
         {
-            _alloc_cb = OnAlloc;
-            _read_cb = OnRead;
-            _read = read;
-            _uv.read_start(this, _alloc_cb, _read_cb);
-        }
-
-        private void OnAlloc(IntPtr server, int suggested_size, out Libuv.uv_buf_t buf)
-        {
-            buf = new Libuv.uv_buf_t
-            {
-                memory = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(suggested_size),
-                len = (uint)suggested_size,
-            };
-        }
-
-        private void OnRead(IntPtr server, int nread, ref Libuv.uv_buf_t buf)
-        {
-            if (nread == -4095)
-            {
-                _read(0, null, this);
-                Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(buf.memory);
-                return;
-            }
-            var length = _uv.Check(nread);
-            var data = new byte[length];
-            Marshal.Copy(buf.memory, data, 0, length);
-            Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(buf.memory);
-
-            _read(length, data, this);
+            _readCallback = callback;
+            _readState = state;
+            _uv.read_start(this, _uv_alloc_cb, _uv_read_cb);
         }
 
         public void ReadStop()
         {
             _uv.read_stop(this);
         }
+
+        private static void UvConnectionCb(IntPtr handle, int status)
+        {
+            var stream = FromIntPtr<UvStreamHandle>(handle);
+            stream._connectionCallback(stream, status, stream._connectionState);
+        }
+
+        private static void UvAllocCb(IntPtr server, int suggested_size, out Libuv.uv_buf_t buf)
+        {
+            buf = new Libuv.uv_buf_t
+            {
+                memory = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(suggested_size),
+                len = (uint)suggested_size,
+            };
+
+        }
+
+        private static void UvReadCb(IntPtr ptr, int nread, ref Libuv.uv_buf_t buf)
+        {
+            var stream = FromIntPtr<UvStreamHandle>(ptr);
+            if (nread == -4095)
+            {
+                stream._readCallback(stream, 0, null, stream._readState);
+                Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(buf.memory);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            var length = stream._uv.Check(nread);
+            var data = new byte[length];
+            Marshal.Copy(buf.memory, data, 0, length);
+            Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(buf.memory);
+
+            stream._readCallback(stream, length, data, stream._readState);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests/EngineTests.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests/EngineTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3287054606
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests/EngineTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+using Microsoft.AspNet.Server.Kestrel;
+using System;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Summary description for EngineTests
+    /// </summary>
+    public class EngineTests
+    {
+	    [Fact]
+        public async Task EngineCanStartAndStop()
+        {
+            var engine = new KestrelEngine();
+            engine.Start(1);
+            engine.Stop();
+        }
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task ListenerCanCreateAndDispose()
+        {
+            var engine = new KestrelEngine();
+            engine.Start(1);
+            var started = engine.CreateServer();
+            started.Dispose();
+            engine.Stop();
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests/NetworkingTests.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests/NetworkingTests.cs
index 90e4168e28..2f17803fd4 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests/NetworkingTests.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests/NetworkingTests.cs
@@ -71,14 +71,14 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests
             var tcp = new UvTcpHandle();
             tcp.Init(loop);
             tcp.Bind(new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Loopback, 54321));
-            tcp.Listen(10, (status, handle) =>
+            tcp.Listen(10, (stream, status, state) =>
             {
                 var tcp2 = new UvTcpHandle();
                 tcp2.Init(loop);
-                tcp.Accept(tcp2);
+                stream.Accept(tcp2);
                 tcp2.Close();
-                tcp.Close();
-            });
+                stream.Close();
+            }, null);
             var t = Task.Run(async () =>
             {
                 var socket = new Socket(
@@ -108,21 +108,21 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Server.KestralTests
             var tcp = new UvTcpHandle();
             tcp.Init(loop);
             tcp.Bind(new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Loopback, 54321));
-            tcp.Listen(10, (status, handle) =>
+            tcp.Listen(10, (_, status, state) =>
             {
                 var tcp2 = new UvTcpHandle();
                 tcp2.Init(loop);
                 tcp.Accept(tcp2);
-                tcp2.ReadStart((nread, data, handle2) =>
+                tcp2.ReadStart((__, nread, data, state2) =>
                 {
                     bytesRead += nread;
                     if (nread == 0)
                     {
                         tcp2.Close();
                     }
-                });
+                }, null);
                 tcp.Close();
-            });
+            }, null);
             var t = Task.Run(async () =>
             {
                 var socket = new Socket(