diff --git a/imr/core.hh b/imr/core.hh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..874058c46410
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imr/core.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018 ScyllaDB
+ */
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Scylla.
+ *
+ * Scylla 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.
+ *
+ * Scylla 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 General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with Scylla.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include "utils/fragment_range.hh"
+
+namespace imr {
+
+/// No-op deserialisation context
+///
+/// This is a dummy deserialisation context to be used when there is no need
+/// for one, but the interface expects a context object.
+static const struct no_context_t {
+    template<typename Tag, typename... Args>
+    const no_context_t& context_for(Args&&...) const noexcept { return *this; }
+} no_context;
+
+}
diff --git a/imr/fundamental.hh b/imr/fundamental.hh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0c94857c3809
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imr/fundamental.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,291 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018 ScyllaDB
+ */
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Scylla.
+ *
+ * Scylla 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.
+ *
+ * Scylla 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 General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with Scylla.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <boost/range/algorithm/for_each.hpp>
+
+#include <seastar/core/align.hh>
+#include <seastar/core/bitops.hh>
+#include <seastar/util/gcc6-concepts.hh>
+
+#include "bytes.hh"
+#include "utils/meta.hh"
+
+#include "imr/core.hh"
+
+namespace imr {
+
+namespace internal {
+
+template<typename T, typename CharT>
+GCC6_CONCEPT(requires std::is_pod<T>::value && sizeof(CharT) == 1)
+inline T read_pod(const CharT* in) noexcept {
+    T obj;
+    std::copy_n(in, sizeof(T), reinterpret_cast<CharT*>(&obj));
+    return obj;
+}
+
+template<typename T, typename CharT>
+GCC6_CONCEPT(requires std::is_pod<T>::value && sizeof(CharT) == 1)
+inline void write_pod(T obj, CharT* out) noexcept {
+    std::copy_n(reinterpret_cast<const CharT*>(&obj), sizeof(T), out);
+}
+
+}
+
+template<typename Tag>
+class set_flag {
+    bool _value = true;
+public:
+    set_flag() = default;
+    explicit set_flag(bool v) noexcept : _value(v) { }
+    bool value() const noexcept { return _value; }
+};
+
+/// Set of flags
+///
+/// Represents a fixed-size set of tagged flags.
+template<typename... Tags>
+class flags {
+    static constexpr auto object_size = seastar::align_up<size_t>(sizeof...(Tags), 8) / 8;
+private:
+    template<typename Tag>
+    static void do_set_or_clear(uint8_t* ptr, bool set) noexcept {
+        const auto idx = meta::find<Tag, Tags...>;
+        const auto byte_idx = idx / 8;
+        const auto bit_idx = idx % 8;
+
+        auto value = ptr[byte_idx];
+        value &= ~uint8_t(1 << bit_idx);
+        value |= uint8_t(set) << bit_idx;
+        ptr[byte_idx] = value;
+    }
+
+    template<typename Tag>
+    static bool do_get(const uint8_t* ptr) noexcept {
+        const auto idx = meta::find<Tag, Tags...>;
+        const auto byte_idx = idx / 8;
+        const auto bit_idx = idx % 8;
+
+        return ptr[byte_idx] & (1 << bit_idx);
+    }
+public:
+    template<::mutable_view is_mutable>
+    class basic_view {
+        using pointer_type = std::conditional_t<is_mutable == ::mutable_view::no,
+                                                const uint8_t*, uint8_t*>;
+        pointer_type _ptr;
+    public:
+        explicit basic_view(pointer_type ptr) noexcept : _ptr(ptr) { }
+
+        operator basic_view<::mutable_view::no>() const noexcept {
+            return basic_view<::mutable_view::no>(_ptr);
+        }
+
+        template<typename Tag>
+        bool get() const noexcept {
+            return do_get<Tag>(_ptr);
+        }
+
+        template<typename Tag>
+        void set(bool value = true) noexcept {
+            do_set_or_clear<Tag>(_ptr, value);
+        }
+    };
+
+    using view = basic_view<::mutable_view::no>;
+    using mutable_view = basic_view<::mutable_view::yes>;
+
+public:
+    template<typename Context = no_context_t>
+    static view make_view(const uint8_t* in, const Context& = no_context) noexcept {
+        return view(in);
+    }
+    template<typename Context = no_context_t>
+    static mutable_view make_view(uint8_t* in, const Context& = no_context) noexcept {
+        return mutable_view(in);
+    }
+
+public:
+    template<typename Context = no_context_t>
+    static size_t serialized_object_size(const uint8_t*, const Context& = no_context) noexcept {
+        return object_size;
+    }
+
+    template<typename... Tags1>
+    static size_t size_when_serialized(set_flag<Tags1>...) noexcept {
+        return object_size;
+    }
+
+    template<typename... Tags1>
+    static size_t serialize(uint8_t* out, set_flag<Tags1>... sfs) noexcept {
+        std::fill_n(out, object_size, 0);
+        (do_set_or_clear<Tags1>(out, sfs.value()), ...);
+        return object_size;
+    }
+};
+
+/// POD object
+///
+/// Represents a fixed-size POD value.
+template<typename Type>
+GCC6_CONCEPT(requires std::is_pod<Type>::value)
+struct pod {
+    using underlying = Type;
+    enum : size_t {
+        size = sizeof(Type),
+    };
+
+    template<::mutable_view is_mutable>
+    class basic_view {
+        using pointer_type = std::conditional_t<is_mutable == ::mutable_view::no,
+                                                const uint8_t*, uint8_t*>;
+        pointer_type _ptr;
+    public:
+        explicit basic_view(pointer_type ptr) noexcept : _ptr(ptr) { }
+
+        operator basic_view<::mutable_view::no>() const noexcept {
+            return basic_view<::mutable_view::no>(_ptr);
+        }
+
+        Type load() const noexcept {
+            return internal::read_pod<Type>(_ptr);
+        }
+
+        void store(const Type& object) noexcept {
+            internal::write_pod(object, _ptr);
+        }
+    };
+
+    using view = basic_view<::mutable_view::no>;
+    using mutable_view = basic_view<::mutable_view::yes>;
+
+public:
+    template<typename Context = no_context_t>
+    static view make_view(const uint8_t* in, const Context& = no_context) noexcept {
+        return view(in);
+    }
+    template<typename Context = no_context_t>
+    static mutable_view make_view(uint8_t* in, const Context& = no_context) noexcept {
+        return mutable_view(in);
+    }
+
+public:
+    template<typename Context = no_context_t>
+    static size_t serialized_object_size(const uint8_t*, const Context& = no_context) noexcept {
+        return sizeof(Type);
+    }
+
+    static size_t size_when_serialized(const Type&) noexcept {
+        return sizeof(Type);
+    }
+
+    static size_t serialize(uint8_t* out, const Type& value) noexcept {
+        internal::write_pod(value, out);
+        return sizeof(Type);
+    }
+};
+
+/// Buffer
+///
+/// Represents an opaque buffer. The size of the buffer is not stored and must
+/// be provided by external context.
+/// A buffer can be created from a bytes_view, a fragments range or a
+/// (size, serializer) pair.
+template<typename Tag>
+struct buffer {
+    using view = bytes_view;
+    using mutable_view = bytes_mutable_view;
+    template<::mutable_view is_mutable>
+    using basic_view = std::conditional_t<is_mutable == ::mutable_view::no, view, mutable_view>;
+
+    template<typename Context>
+    GCC6_CONCEPT(requires requires(const Context& ctx) {
+        { ctx.template size_of<Tag>() } noexcept -> size_t;
+    })
+    static view make_view(const uint8_t* in, const Context& context) noexcept {
+        auto ptr = reinterpret_cast<bytes_view::pointer>(in);
+        return bytes_view(ptr, context.template size_of<Tag>());
+    }
+
+    template<typename Context>
+    GCC6_CONCEPT(requires requires(const Context& ctx) {
+        { ctx.template size_of<Tag>() } noexcept -> size_t;
+    })
+    static mutable_view make_view(uint8_t* in, const Context& context) noexcept {
+        auto ptr = reinterpret_cast<bytes_mutable_view::pointer>(in);
+        return bytes_mutable_view(ptr, context.template size_of<Tag>());
+    }
+
+public:
+    template<typename Context>
+    GCC6_CONCEPT(requires requires(const Context& ctx) {
+        { ctx.template size_of<Tag>() } noexcept -> size_t;
+    })
+    static size_t serialized_object_size(const uint8_t*, const Context& context) noexcept {
+        return context.template size_of<Tag>();
+    }
+
+    static size_t size_when_serialized(bytes_view src) noexcept {
+        return src.size();
+    }
+
+    template<typename Serializer>
+    GCC6_CONCEPT(requires requires (Serializer ser, uint8_t* ptr) {
+        { ser(ptr) } noexcept;
+    })
+    static size_t size_when_serialized(size_t size, Serializer&&) noexcept {
+        return size;
+    }
+
+    template<typename FragmentRange, typename = std::enable_if_t<is_fragment_range_v<std::decay_t<FragmentRange>>>>
+    static size_t size_when_serialized(FragmentRange&& fragments) {
+        return fragments.size_bytes();
+    }
+
+    static size_t serialize(uint8_t* out, bytes_view src) {
+        std::copy_n(src.begin(), src.size(),
+                    reinterpret_cast<bytes_view::value_type*>(out));
+        return src.size();
+    }
+
+    template<typename FragmentRange, typename = std::enable_if_t<is_fragment_range_v<std::decay_t<FragmentRange>>>>
+    static size_t serialize(uint8_t* out, FragmentRange&& fragments) {
+        auto dst = reinterpret_cast<bytes_view::value_type*>(out);
+        using boost::range::for_each;
+        for_each(fragments, [&] (bytes_view fragment) {
+            dst = std::copy(fragment.begin(), fragment.end(), dst);
+        });
+        return fragments.size_bytes();
+    }
+
+    template<typename Serializer>
+    GCC6_CONCEPT(requires requires (Serializer ser, uint8_t* ptr) {
+        { ser(ptr) } noexcept;
+    })
+    static size_t serialize(uint8_t* out, size_t size, Serializer&& serializer) noexcept {
+        std::forward<Serializer>(serializer)(out);
+        return size;
+    }
+};
+
+}