diff --git a/pageserver/src/virtual_file.rs b/pageserver/src/virtual_file.rs
index 2cd11f8f0461d..a38fbd6b7ea80 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/virtual_file.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/virtual_file.rs
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ pub(crate) use api::IoMode;
 pub(crate) use io_engine::IoEngineKind;
 pub(crate) use metadata::Metadata;
 pub(crate) use open_options::*;
+pub(crate) mod dio;
 
 pub(crate) mod owned_buffers_io {
     //! Abstractions for IO with owned buffers.
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ pub(crate) mod owned_buffers_io {
     //! but for the time being we're proving out the primitives in the neon.git repo
     //! for faster iteration.
 
+    pub(crate) mod io_buf_aligned;
     pub(crate) mod io_buf_ext;
     pub(crate) mod slice;
     pub(crate) mod write;
@@ -1362,6 +1364,8 @@ pub(crate) const fn get_io_buffer_alignment() -> usize {
     DEFAULT_IO_BUFFER_ALIGNMENT
 }
 
+pub(crate) type IoBufferMut = dio::AlignedBufferMut<{ get_io_buffer_alignment() }>;
+
 static IO_MODE: AtomicU8 = AtomicU8::new(IoMode::preferred() as u8);
 
 pub(crate) fn set_io_mode(mode: IoMode) {
diff --git a/pageserver/src/virtual_file/dio.rs b/pageserver/src/virtual_file/dio.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..5ba80eeae3501
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pageserver/src/virtual_file/dio.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,405 @@
+#![allow(unused)]
+
+use core::slice;
+use std::{
+    alloc::{self, Layout},
+    cmp,
+    mem::{ManuallyDrop, MaybeUninit},
+    ops::{Deref, DerefMut},
+    ptr::{addr_of_mut, NonNull},
+};
+
+use bytes::buf::UninitSlice;
+
+struct IoBufferPtr(*mut u8);
+
+// SAFETY: We gurantees no one besides `IoBufferPtr` itself has the raw pointer.
+unsafe impl Send for IoBufferPtr {}
+
+/// An aligned buffer type used for I/O.
+pub struct AlignedBufferMut<const ALIGN: usize> {
+    ptr: IoBufferPtr,
+    capacity: usize,
+    len: usize,
+}
+
+impl<const ALIGN: usize> AlignedBufferMut<ALIGN> {
+    /// Constructs a new, empty `IoBufferMut` with at least the specified capacity and alignment.
+    ///
+    /// The buffer will be able to hold at most `capacity` elements and will never resize.
+    ///
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// Panics if the new capacity exceeds `isize::MAX` _bytes_, or if the following alignment requirement is not met:
+    /// * `align` must not be zero,
+    ///
+    /// * `align` must be a power of two,
+    ///
+    /// * `capacity`, when rounded up to the nearest multiple of `align`,
+    ///    must not overflow isize (i.e., the rounded value must be
+    ///    less than or equal to `isize::MAX`).
+    pub fn with_capacity(capacity: usize) -> Self {
+        let layout = Layout::from_size_align(capacity, ALIGN).expect("Invalid layout");
+
+        // SAFETY:  Making an allocation with a sized and aligned layout. The memory is manually freed with the same layout.
+        let ptr = unsafe {
+            let ptr = alloc::alloc(layout);
+            if ptr.is_null() {
+                alloc::handle_alloc_error(layout);
+            }
+            IoBufferPtr(ptr)
+        };
+
+        AlignedBufferMut {
+            ptr,
+            capacity,
+            len: 0,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Constructs a new `IoBufferMut` with at least the specified capacity and alignment, filled with zeros.
+    pub fn with_capacity_zeroed(capacity: usize) -> Self {
+        use bytes::BufMut;
+        let mut buf = Self::with_capacity(capacity);
+        buf.put_bytes(0, capacity);
+        buf.len = capacity;
+        buf
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the total number of bytes the buffer can hold.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn capacity(&self) -> usize {
+        self.capacity
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the alignment of the buffer.
+    #[inline]
+    pub const fn align(&self) -> usize {
+        ALIGN
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the number of bytes in the buffer, also referred to as its 'length'.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn len(&self) -> usize {
+        self.len
+    }
+
+    /// Force the length of the buffer to `new_len`.
+    #[inline]
+    unsafe fn set_len(&mut self, new_len: usize) {
+        debug_assert!(new_len <= self.capacity());
+        self.len = new_len;
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn as_ptr(&self) -> *const u8 {
+        self.ptr.0
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn as_mut_ptr(&mut self) -> *mut u8 {
+        self.ptr.0
+    }
+
+    /// Extracts a slice containing the entire buffer.
+    ///
+    /// Equivalent to `&s[..]`.
+    #[inline]
+    fn as_slice(&self) -> &[u8] {
+        // SAFETY: The pointer is valid and `len` bytes are initialized.
+        unsafe { slice::from_raw_parts(self.as_ptr(), self.len) }
+    }
+
+    /// Extracts a mutable slice of the entire buffer.
+    ///
+    /// Equivalent to `&mut s[..]`.
+    fn as_mut_slice(&mut self) -> &mut [u8] {
+        // SAFETY: The pointer is valid and `len` bytes are initialized.
+        unsafe { slice::from_raw_parts_mut(self.as_mut_ptr(), self.len) }
+    }
+
+    /// Drops the all the contents of the buffer, setting its length to `0`.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn clear(&mut self) {
+        self.len = 0;
+    }
+
+    /// Reserves capacity for at least `additional` more bytes to be inserted
+    /// in the given `IoBufferMut`. The collection may reserve more space to
+    /// speculatively avoid frequent reallocations. After calling `reserve`,
+    /// capacity will be greater than or equal to `self.len() + additional`.
+    /// Does nothing if capacity is already sufficient.
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// Panics if the new capacity exceeds `isize::MAX` _bytes_.
+    pub fn reserve(&mut self, additional: usize) {
+        if additional > self.capacity() - self.len() {
+            self.reserve_inner(additional);
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn reserve_inner(&mut self, additional: usize) {
+        let Some(required_cap) = self.len().checked_add(additional) else {
+            capacity_overflow()
+        };
+
+        let old_capacity = self.capacity();
+        let align = self.align();
+        // This guarantees exponential growth. The doubling cannot overflow
+        // because `cap <= isize::MAX` and the type of `cap` is `usize`.
+        let cap = cmp::max(old_capacity * 2, required_cap);
+
+        if !is_valid_alloc(cap) {
+            capacity_overflow()
+        }
+        let new_layout = Layout::from_size_align(cap, self.align()).expect("Invalid layout");
+
+        let old_ptr = self.as_mut_ptr();
+
+        // SAFETY: old allocation was allocated with std::alloc::alloc with the same layout,
+        // and we panics on null pointer.
+        let (ptr, cap) = unsafe {
+            let old_layout = Layout::from_size_align_unchecked(old_capacity, align);
+            let ptr = alloc::realloc(old_ptr, old_layout, new_layout.size());
+            if ptr.is_null() {
+                alloc::handle_alloc_error(new_layout);
+            }
+            (IoBufferPtr(ptr), cap)
+        };
+
+        self.ptr = ptr;
+        self.capacity = cap;
+    }
+
+    /// Consumes and leaks the `IoBufferMut`, returning a mutable reference to the contents, &'a mut [u8].
+    pub fn leak<'a>(self) -> &'a mut [u8] {
+        let mut buf = ManuallyDrop::new(self);
+        // SAFETY: leaking the buffer as intended.
+        unsafe { slice::from_raw_parts_mut(buf.as_mut_ptr(), buf.len) }
+    }
+}
+
+fn capacity_overflow() -> ! {
+    panic!("capacity overflow")
+}
+
+// We need to guarantee the following:
+// * We don't ever allocate `> isize::MAX` byte-size objects.
+// * We don't overflow `usize::MAX` and actually allocate too little.
+//
+// On 64-bit we just need to check for overflow since trying to allocate
+// `> isize::MAX` bytes will surely fail. On 32-bit and 16-bit we need to add
+// an extra guard for this in case we're running on a platform which can use
+// all 4GB in user-space, e.g., PAE or x32.
+#[inline]
+fn is_valid_alloc(alloc_size: usize) -> bool {
+    !(usize::BITS < 64 && alloc_size > isize::MAX as usize)
+}
+
+impl<const ALIGN: usize> Drop for AlignedBufferMut<ALIGN> {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        // SAFETY: memory was allocated with std::alloc::alloc with the same layout.
+        unsafe {
+            alloc::dealloc(
+                self.as_mut_ptr(),
+                Layout::from_size_align_unchecked(self.capacity, ALIGN),
+            )
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<const ALIGN: usize> Deref for AlignedBufferMut<ALIGN> {
+    type Target = [u8];
+
+    fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
+        self.as_slice()
+    }
+}
+
+impl<const ALIGN: usize> DerefMut for AlignedBufferMut<ALIGN> {
+    fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Self::Target {
+        self.as_mut_slice()
+    }
+}
+
+/// SAFETY: When advancing the internal cursor, the caller needs to make sure the bytes advcanced past have been initialized.
+unsafe impl<const ALIGN: usize> bytes::BufMut for AlignedBufferMut<ALIGN> {
+    #[inline]
+    fn remaining_mut(&self) -> usize {
+        // Although a `Vec` can have at most isize::MAX bytes, we never want to grow `IoBufferMut`.
+        // Thus, it can have at most `self.capacity` bytes.
+        self.capacity() - self.len()
+    }
+
+    // SAFETY: Caller needs to make sure the bytes being advanced past have been initialized.
+    #[inline]
+    unsafe fn advance_mut(&mut self, cnt: usize) {
+        let len = self.len();
+        let remaining = self.remaining_mut();
+
+        if remaining < cnt {
+            panic_advance(cnt, remaining);
+        }
+
+        // Addition will not overflow since the sum is at most the capacity.
+        self.set_len(len + cnt);
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn chunk_mut(&mut self) -> &mut bytes::buf::UninitSlice {
+        let cap = self.capacity();
+        let len = self.len();
+
+        // SAFETY: Since `self.ptr` is valid for `cap` bytes, `self.ptr.add(len)` must be
+        // valid for `cap - len` bytes. The subtraction will not underflow since
+        // `len <= cap`.
+        unsafe { UninitSlice::from_raw_parts_mut(self.as_mut_ptr().add(len), cap - len) }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Panic with a nice error message.
+#[cold]
+fn panic_advance(idx: usize, len: usize) -> ! {
+    panic!(
+        "advance out of bounds: the len is {} but advancing by {}",
+        len, idx
+    );
+}
+
+/// Safety: [`IoBufferMut`] has exclusive ownership of the io buffer,
+/// and the location remains stable even if [`Self`] is moved.
+unsafe impl<const ALIGN: usize> tokio_epoll_uring::IoBuf for AlignedBufferMut<ALIGN> {
+    fn stable_ptr(&self) -> *const u8 {
+        self.as_ptr()
+    }
+
+    fn bytes_init(&self) -> usize {
+        self.len()
+    }
+
+    fn bytes_total(&self) -> usize {
+        self.capacity()
+    }
+}
+
+// SAFETY: See above.
+unsafe impl<const ALIGN: usize> tokio_epoll_uring::IoBufMut for AlignedBufferMut<ALIGN> {
+    fn stable_mut_ptr(&mut self) -> *mut u8 {
+        self.as_mut_ptr()
+    }
+
+    unsafe fn set_init(&mut self, init_len: usize) {
+        if self.len() < init_len {
+            self.set_len(init_len);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+
+    use super::*;
+
+    const ALIGN: usize = 4 * 1024;
+    type TestIoBufferMut = AlignedBufferMut<ALIGN>;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_with_capacity_aligned() {
+        let v = TestIoBufferMut::with_capacity(ALIGN * 4);
+        assert_eq!(v.len(), 0);
+        assert_eq!(v.capacity(), ALIGN * 4);
+        assert_eq!(v.align(), ALIGN);
+        assert_eq!(v.as_ptr().align_offset(ALIGN), 0);
+
+        let v = TestIoBufferMut::with_capacity(ALIGN / 2);
+        assert_eq!(v.len(), 0);
+        assert_eq!(v.capacity(), ALIGN / 2);
+        assert_eq!(v.align(), ALIGN);
+        assert_eq!(v.as_ptr().align_offset(ALIGN), 0);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_with_capacity_aligned_zeroed() {
+        let v = TestIoBufferMut::with_capacity_zeroed(ALIGN);
+        assert_eq!(v.len(), ALIGN);
+        assert_eq!(v.capacity(), ALIGN);
+        assert_eq!(v.align(), ALIGN);
+        assert_eq!(v.as_ptr().align_offset(ALIGN), 0);
+        assert_eq!(&v[..], &[0; ALIGN])
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_reserve() {
+        use bytes::BufMut;
+        let mut v = TestIoBufferMut::with_capacity(ALIGN);
+        let capacity = v.capacity();
+        v.reserve(capacity);
+        assert_eq!(v.capacity(), capacity);
+        let data = [b'a'; ALIGN];
+        v.put(&data[..]);
+        v.reserve(capacity);
+        assert!(v.capacity() >= capacity * 2);
+        assert_eq!(&v[..], &data[..]);
+        let capacity = v.capacity();
+        v.clear();
+        v.reserve(capacity);
+        assert_eq!(capacity, v.capacity());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_bytes_put() {
+        use bytes::BufMut;
+        let mut v = TestIoBufferMut::with_capacity(ALIGN * 4);
+        let x = [b'a'; ALIGN];
+
+        for _ in 0..2 {
+            for _ in 0..4 {
+                v.put(&x[..]);
+            }
+            assert_eq!(v.len(), ALIGN * 4);
+            assert_eq!(v.capacity(), ALIGN * 4);
+            assert_eq!(v.align(), ALIGN);
+            assert_eq!(v.as_ptr().align_offset(ALIGN), 0);
+            v.clear()
+        }
+        assert_eq!(v.len(), 0);
+        assert_eq!(v.capacity(), ALIGN * 4);
+        assert_eq!(v.align(), ALIGN);
+        assert_eq!(v.as_ptr().align_offset(ALIGN), 0);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic]
+    fn test_bytes_put_panic() {
+        use bytes::BufMut;
+        const ALIGN: usize = 4 * 1024;
+        let mut v = TestIoBufferMut::with_capacity(ALIGN * 4);
+        let x = [b'a'; ALIGN];
+        for _ in 0..5 {
+            v.put_slice(&x[..]);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_io_buf_put_slice() {
+        use tokio_epoll_uring::BoundedBufMut;
+        const ALIGN: usize = 4 * 1024;
+        let mut v = TestIoBufferMut::with_capacity(ALIGN);
+        let x = [b'a'; ALIGN];
+
+        for _ in 0..2 {
+            v.put_slice(&x[..]);
+            assert_eq!(v.len(), ALIGN);
+            assert_eq!(v.capacity(), ALIGN);
+            assert_eq!(v.align(), ALIGN);
+            assert_eq!(v.as_ptr().align_offset(ALIGN), 0);
+            v.clear()
+        }
+        assert_eq!(v.len(), 0);
+        assert_eq!(v.capacity(), ALIGN);
+        assert_eq!(v.align(), ALIGN);
+        assert_eq!(v.as_ptr().align_offset(ALIGN), 0);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/pageserver/src/virtual_file/owned_buffers_io/io_buf_aligned.rs b/pageserver/src/virtual_file/owned_buffers_io/io_buf_aligned.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d79287fa69e78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pageserver/src/virtual_file/owned_buffers_io/io_buf_aligned.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#![allow(unused)]
+
+use tokio_epoll_uring::IoBufMut;
+
+use crate::virtual_file::IoBufferMut;
+
+pub(crate) trait IoBufAlignedMut: IoBufMut {}
+
+impl IoBufAlignedMut for IoBufferMut {}
diff --git a/pageserver/src/virtual_file/owned_buffers_io/io_buf_ext.rs b/pageserver/src/virtual_file/owned_buffers_io/io_buf_ext.rs
index 7c773b6b21030..cd1917b580fa5 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/virtual_file/owned_buffers_io/io_buf_ext.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/virtual_file/owned_buffers_io/io_buf_ext.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 //! See [`FullSlice`].
 
+use crate::virtual_file::IoBufferMut;
 use bytes::{Bytes, BytesMut};
 use std::ops::{Deref, Range};
 use tokio_epoll_uring::{BoundedBuf, IoBuf, Slice};
@@ -76,3 +77,4 @@ macro_rules! impl_io_buf_ext {
 impl_io_buf_ext!(Bytes);
 impl_io_buf_ext!(BytesMut);
 impl_io_buf_ext!(Vec<u8>);
+impl_io_buf_ext!(IoBufferMut);