diff --git a/net.go b/net.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2f9c9c8c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/net.go
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package common
+
+import (
+	"net"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// protoAddr: e.g. "tcp://127.0.0.1:8080" or "unix:///tmp/test.sock"
+func Connect(protoAddr string) (net.Conn, error) {
+	parts := strings.SplitN(protoAddr, "://", 2)
+	proto, address := parts[0], parts[1]
+	conn, err := net.Dial(proto, address)
+	return conn, err
+}