Vectored I/O or Scatter-Gather I/O

In computing, vectored I/O, also known as scatter/gather I/O, is a method of input and output by which a single procedure-call sequentially writes data from multiple buffers to a single data stream or reads data from a data stream to multiple buffers. The buffers are given in a vector of buffers. Scatter/gather refers to the process of gathering data from, or scattering data into, the given set of buffers. Vectored I/O can operate synchronously or asynchronously. The main reasons for using vectored I/O are efficiency and convenience.