As a platform, it is an implementation of the resource-oriented computing (ROC) abstraction. ROC is a "logical" computing model that resides on top of but is completely isolated from the "physical" realm of code and objects. In ROC, information and services are identified by logical addresses which are resolved to physical endpoints for the duration of a request and then released. Logical indirect addressing results in flexible systems that can be changed while the system is in operation. In NetKernel, the boundary between the logical and physical layers is intermediated by an operation-system caliber microkernel that can perform various transparent optimization.