diff --git a/oslo_service/backend/__init__.py b/oslo_service/backend/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c42c91fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/oslo_service/backend/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+# implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import enum
+import importlib
+import logging
+from typing import Any
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+from . import exceptions
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from .base import BaseBackend
+
+LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class BackendType(enum.Enum):
+    EVENTLET = "eventlet"
+    THREADING = "threading"
+
+
+DEFAULT_BACKEND_TYPE = BackendType.EVENTLET
+
+_cached_backend_type: BackendType | None = None  # backend type
+_cached_backend: BaseBackend | None = None  # current backend
+_cached_components: dict[str, Any] | None = None  # backend components
+
+
+def _reset_backend() -> None:
+    """used by test functions to reset the selected backend"""
+
+    global _cached_backend, _cached_components, _cached_backend_type
+    _cached_backend_type = _cached_backend = _cached_components = None
+
+
+def init_backend(type_: BackendType) -> None:
+    """establish which backend will be used when get_backend() is called"""
+
+    global _cached_backend, _cached_components, _cached_backend_type
+
+    if _cached_backend_type is not None:
+        raise exceptions.BackendAlreadySelected(
+            f"The {_cached_backend_type.value!r} backend is already set up"
+        )
+
+    backend_name = type_.value
+
+    LOG.info(f"Loading backend: {backend_name}")
+    try:
+        module_name = f"oslo_service.backend.{backend_name}"
+        module = importlib.import_module(module_name)
+        backend_class = getattr(module, f"{backend_name.capitalize()}Backend")
+
+        new_backend: BaseBackend
+        _cached_backend = new_backend = backend_class()
+
+    except ModuleNotFoundError:
+        LOG.error(f"Backend module {module_name} not found.")
+        raise ValueError(f"Unknown backend: {backend_name!r}")
+    except AttributeError:
+        LOG.error(f"Backend class not found in module {module_name}.")
+        raise ImportError(f"Backend class not found in module {module_name}")
+
+    _cached_backend_type = type_
+    _cached_components = new_backend.get_service_components()
+    LOG.info(f"Backend {type_.value!r} successfully loaded and cached.")
+
+
+def get_backend() -> BaseBackend:
+    """Load backend dynamically based on the default constant."""
+
+    global _cached_backend
+    if _cached_backend is None:
+        init_backend(DEFAULT_BACKEND_TYPE)
+
+    assert _cached_backend is not None  # nosec B101 : this is for typing
+
+    return _cached_backend
+
+
+def get_component(name: str) -> Any:
+    """Retrieve a specific component from the backend."""
+    global _cached_components
+
+    if _cached_components is None:
+        get_backend()
+
+    assert _cached_components is not None  # nosec B101 : this is for typing
+
+    if name not in _cached_components:
+        raise KeyError(f"Component {name!r} not found in backend.")
+    return _cached_components[name]
diff --git a/oslo_service/backend/base.py b/oslo_service/backend/base.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..82f7c07d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/oslo_service/backend/base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+# implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from abc import ABC
+from abc import abstractmethod
+from typing import Any
+
+from oslo_service.backend.exceptions import BackendComponentNotAvailable
+
+
+class BaseBackend(ABC):
+    """Base class for all backend implementations."""
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def get_service_components(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
+        """Return the backend components.
+
+        This method should return a dictionary containing all the components
+        required for the backend to function. For example:
+        {
+            "ServiceLauncher": Class or function,
+            "ProcessLauncher": Class or function,
+            "Service": Class or function,
+            "LoopingCall": Class or function,
+            ...
+        }
+        """
+        pass
+
+
+class ComponentRegistry:
+    """A registry to manage access to backend components.
+
+    This class ensures that attempting to access a missing component
+    raises an explicit error, improving clarity and debugging. It acts
+    as a centralized registry for backend components.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, components):
+        """Initialize the registry with a dictionary of components.
+
+        :param components: A dictionary containing backend components, where
+                           the keys are component names and the values are
+                           the respective implementations.
+        """
+        self._components = components
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        """Retrieve a component by its key from the registry.
+
+        :param key: The name of the component to retrieve.
+        :raises NotImplementedError: If the component is
+                                     not registered or available.
+        :return: The requested component instance.
+        """
+        if key not in self._components or self._components[key] is None:
+            raise BackendComponentNotAvailable(
+                f"Component '{key}' is not available in this backend.")
+        return self._components[key]
+
+    def __contains__(self, key):
+        """Check if a component is registered and available.
+
+        :param key: The name of the component to check.
+        :return: True if the component is registered
+                 and available, False otherwise.
+        """
+        return key in self._components and self._components[key] is not None
diff --git a/oslo_service/backend/eventlet/__init__.py b/oslo_service/backend/eventlet/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a10eb828
--- /dev/null
+++ b/oslo_service/backend/eventlet/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+# implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+
+from oslo_service.backend.base import BaseBackend
+from oslo_service import loopingcall
+from oslo_service import service
+from oslo_service import threadgroup
+
+
+class EventletBackend(BaseBackend):
+    """Backend implementation for Eventlet.
+
+    In this revision, this is a "stub" for a real backend; right now it imports
+    the regular implementation of oslo.service, which will be moved
+    entirely into a backend in a subsequent patch.
+
+    """
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_service_components():
+        """Return the components provided by the Eventlet backend."""
+
+        return {
+            # Classes
+            "ServiceBase": service.ServiceBase,
+            "ServiceLauncher": service.ServiceLauncher,
+            "Launcher": service.Launcher,
+            "ProcessLauncher": service.ProcessLauncher,
+            "Service": service.Service,
+            "Services": service.Services,
+            "ServiceWrapper": service.ServiceWrapper,
+            "SignalHandler": service.SignalHandler,
+            "SignalExit": service.SignalExit,
+
+            # Looping call-related classes
+            "LoopingCallBase": loopingcall.LoopingCallBase,
+            "LoopingCallDone": loopingcall.LoopingCallDone,
+            "LoopingCallTimeOut": loopingcall.LoopingCallTimeOut,
+            "FixedIntervalLoopingCall": loopingcall.FixedIntervalLoopingCall,
+            "FixedIntervalWithTimeoutLoopingCall":
+                loopingcall.FixedIntervalWithTimeoutLoopingCall,
+            "DynamicLoopingCall": loopingcall.DynamicLoopingCall,
+            "BackOffLoopingCall": loopingcall.BackOffLoopingCall,
+            "RetryDecorator": loopingcall.RetryDecorator,
+
+            # Threadgroup call-related classes
+            "ThreadGroup": threadgroup.ThreadGroup,
+            "Thread": threadgroup.Thread,
+
+            # Functions
+            "launch": service.launch,
+            "_is_daemon": service._is_daemon,
+            "_is_sighup_and_daemon": service._is_sighup_and_daemon,
+        }
diff --git a/oslo_service/backend/exceptions.py b/oslo_service/backend/exceptions.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6c3e3cee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/oslo_service/backend/exceptions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+# implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+
+class BackendAlreadySelected(Exception):
+    """raised when init_backend() is called more than once"""
+    pass
+
+
+class BackendComponentNotAvailable(Exception):
+    """Raised when a requested component is not available in the backend."""
+    pass
diff --git a/oslo_service/tests/backend/__init__.py b/oslo_service/tests/backend/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/oslo_service/tests/backend/tests/__init__.py b/oslo_service/tests/backend/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/oslo_service/tests/backend/tests/test_backend_base.py b/oslo_service/tests/backend/tests/test_backend_base.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f7f1cd23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/oslo_service/tests/backend/tests/test_backend_base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+# implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import unittest
+from unittest import mock
+
+from oslo_service.backend.base import BaseBackend
+from oslo_service.backend.base import ComponentRegistry
+from oslo_service.backend.exceptions import BackendComponentNotAvailable
+
+
+class TestBaseBackend(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_backend_with_valid_implementation(self):
+        """Test that a valid backend subclass works correctly."""
+        class ValidBackend(BaseBackend):
+            def get_service_components(self):
+                return {"ServiceLauncher": "mock_service_launcher"}
+
+        backend = ValidBackend()
+        components = backend.get_service_components()
+        self.assertIn("ServiceLauncher", components)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            components["ServiceLauncher"], "mock_service_launcher")
+
+
+class TestComponentRegistry(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        """Set up components for testing."""
+        self.components = {
+            "ServiceLauncher": "mock_service_launcher",
+            "ProcessLauncher": "mock_process_launcher",
+        }
+        self.registry = ComponentRegistry(self.components)
+
+    def test_get_existing_component(self):
+        """Test getting an existing component."""
+        self.assertEqual(
+            self.registry["ServiceLauncher"], "mock_service_launcher")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            self.registry["ProcessLauncher"], "mock_process_launcher")
+
+    def test_get_missing_component(self):
+        """Test accessing a missing component raises NotImplementedError."""
+        with self.assertRaises(BackendComponentNotAvailable) as context:
+            _ = self.registry["LoopingCall"]
+        self.assertIn(
+            "Component 'LoopingCall' is not available",
+            str(context.exception))
+
+    def test_contains_existing_component(self):
+        """Test checking if an existing component is in the proxy."""
+        self.assertIn("ServiceLauncher", self.registry)
+        self.assertIn("ProcessLauncher", self.registry)
+
+    def test_contains_missing_component(self):
+        """Test checking if a missing component is in the proxy."""
+        self.assertNotIn("LoopingCall", self.registry)
+
+
+class TestComponentRegistryIntegration(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_service_integration_with_backend(self):
+        """Test registry usage."""
+        # Mock backend components
+        components = {
+            "ServiceLauncher": mock.Mock(),
+            "ProcessLauncher": None,  # Simulate an unimplemented component
+        }
+        registry = ComponentRegistry(components)
+
+        # Validate successful retrieval of an available component
+        self.assertIn("ServiceLauncher", registry)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(registry["ServiceLauncher"])
+
+        # Validate BackendNotAvailable exception for unavailable components
+        with self.assertRaises(BackendComponentNotAvailable):
+            registry["ProcessLauncher"]
+
+        with self.assertRaises(BackendComponentNotAvailable):
+            registry["NonExistentComponent"]
diff --git a/oslo_service/tests/backend/tests/test_backend_init.py b/oslo_service/tests/backend/tests/test_backend_init.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7e3f08b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/oslo_service/tests/backend/tests/test_backend_init.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+# implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import unittest
+
+import oslo_service.backend as backend_module
+from oslo_service.backend import BackendType
+from oslo_service.backend import exceptions
+from oslo_service.backend import get_backend
+from oslo_service.backend import init_backend
+
+
+class TestBackend(unittest.TestCase):
+    def tearDown(self):
+        backend_module._reset_backend()
+
+    def test_default_backend(self):
+        """Test default backend is eventlet."""
+        backend = get_backend()
+        self.assertEqual(backend.__class__.__name__, "EventletBackend")
+
+    def test_init_backend_explicit(self):
+        """test that init_backend() can be called before get_backend()"""
+
+        init_backend(BackendType.EVENTLET)
+
+        backend = get_backend()
+        self.assertEqual(backend.__class__.__name__, "EventletBackend")
+
+    def test_dont_reinit_backend_from_default(self):
+        """test that init_backend() can't be called after get_backend()"""
+
+        get_backend()
+
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(
+            exceptions.BackendAlreadySelected,
+            "The 'eventlet' backend is already set up",
+        ):
+            init_backend(BackendType.EVENTLET)
+
+    def test_dont_reinit_backend_explicit_init(self):
+        """test that init_backend() can't be called twice"""
+
+        init_backend(BackendType.EVENTLET)
+
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(
+            exceptions.BackendAlreadySelected,
+            "The 'eventlet' backend is already set up",
+        ):
+            init_backend(BackendType.EVENTLET)
+
+    def test_cached_backend(self):
+        """Test backend is cached after initial load."""
+        backend1 = get_backend()
+        backend2 = get_backend()
+        self.assertIs(
+            backend1, backend2, "Backend should be cached and reused.")
+
+    def test_cache_invalidation(self):
+        """Test that cache is invalidated correctly."""
+        backend1 = get_backend()
+        backend_module._reset_backend()
+        backend2 = get_backend()
+        self.assertNotEqual(
+            backend1, backend2, "Cache invalidation should reload the backend."
+        )
+
+    def test_backend_components(self):
+        """Test that components are cached when init_backend is called."""
+
+        init_backend(BackendType.EVENTLET)
+
+        backend = get_backend()
+
+        self.assertTrue(
+            {"ServiceBase", "ServiceLauncher"}.intersection(
+                backend.get_service_components()
+            )
+        )