PC local-----------------Logiciel-----------------------+    +----------------Logiciel------------------+
               +----------Espace-noyau---------+-Espace-------------+    +-Espace----------+------Espace-noyau------+
 +-Matériel-+  |  +---+                        |     utilisateur    |    |      utilisateur|                        |
 | +------+ |  |  |   |  +---+   +---PTS----+  |       +---+        |    |  +----------+   |     +-----+      +---+ |
 | |Souris|-|--|->| D |  |   |<=>|/dev/pts/0|<=|======>|ssh|<=======|=//=|=>|sshd@pts42|<==|====>| PTM |<====>| D | |
 | +------+ |  |  | R |  | D |   +----------+  |       +---+        |    |  +----------+   |     +-----+      | D | |
 |+-------+ |  |  | I |  | D |                 |                    |    |     +-----+     |  +----PTS----+   | L | |
 ||Clavier|-|--|->| V |  | L |     +-----+     |            +-----+ |    |     |shell|<====|=>|/dev/pts/42|<=>|   | |
 |+-------+ |  |  | E |  |   |<===>| PTM |<====|===========>|     | |    |     +-----+     |  +-----------+   +---+ |
 | +-----+  |  |  | R |  +---+     +-----+     |  +-----+   |xterm| |    +-----------------+------------------------+
 | |Ecran|<-|--|--| S |                        |  |serv.|<=>|     | | 
 | +-----+  |  |  |   |<=======================|=>|  X  |   +-----+ |                    PC distant
 +----------+  |  +---+                        |  +-----+           |
               +-------------------------------+--------------------+
Bob utilise ssh depuis un terminal fenêtre, pour se connecter et ouvrir un shell distant, sur le PC d'Alice.
DDL : Discipline de ligne
PTM : Drivers PTY maître