In one embodiment a method includes accessing a hardware specific module with a request to perform an unmodified I/O (input/output) operation. The method also includes the hardware specific module accessing a processor specific module with a modified request to perform the I/O operation, the modified request suitable for use with a specific hardware component. The method further includes the processor specific module performing the modified I/O operation with the specific hardware component. The method may further include breaking operations into sub-operations that accomplish part of the operation, and use of transactions that may require multiple operations. Apparatus are also disclosed for implementing the method.