Control plane method and apparatus for providing erasure code protection across multiple storage devices

A method of operating a storage system comprising:

• routing, by a switch of the storage system, at least one storage command to one or more storage devices, based on at least one address associated with the storage command;
• and
• configuring, by a controller of the storage system, the switch to route a first type of storage command of the at least one storage command to the controller in response to a first storage device of the one or more storage devices satisfying a condition;
• and
• sending, by the controller, in response to receiving the first type of storage command, a first response.

A system comprising:

• a first storage device;
• a second storage device configured to recover data stored on the first storage device;
• a switch connected to the first and second storage devices and configured to route at least one storage command to the first and second storage devices based on at least one address associated with the storage command;
• and
• a controller connected to the switch and configured to cause the switch to route the at least one storage command to a device in response to a condition being satisfied, the device being different from the first and second storage devices.