A method of offloading device management responsibilities from a storage device in an array of storage devices, the method comprising: retrieving, by a storage array controller coupled to the array of storage devices, from the storage device, control information identifying a plurality of memory access channels and a range of memory addresses associated with each memory access channel including: querying, by the storage array controller, the storage device for locations of any memory blocks tagged with a special identifier indicating that the memory block contains control information, wherein querying includes executing, by a controller on the storage device, an instruction that causes the controller on the storage device to scan a portion of each memory block to identify those memory blocks that include the control information for the storage device; receiving, by the storage array controller and based on the special identifier, from the storage device, the locations of the memory blocks that include the control information for the storage device; and retrieving the control information stored at the locations, including issuing, by the storage array controller, a request to read data stored in the memory blocks at the locations received from the storage device; receiving, by the storage array controller, a request to write data to the storage device; selecting, by the storage array controller, a memory access channel based on the retrieved control information, wherein each memory access channel represents a data communications link between the storage device and the storage array controller, and wherein selecting a memory access channel is carried out by selecting a least recently used memory access channel; identifying, by the storage array controller, a target memory block on the storage device that is accessible via the selected memory channel; and sending, by the storage array controller, a request to write the data to the target memory block via the selected memory access channel. retrieving, by a storage array controller coupled to the array of storage devices, from the storage device, control information identifying a plurality of memory access channels and a range of memory addresses associated with each memory access channel including: querying, by the storage array controller, the storage device for locations of any memory blocks tagged with a special identifier indicating that the memory block contains control information, wherein querying includes executing, by a controller on the storage device, an instruction that causes the controller on the storage device to scan a portion of each memory block to identify those memory blocks that include the control information for the storage device; receiving, by the storage array controller and based on the special identifier, from the storage device, the locations of the memory blocks that include the control information for the storage device; and retrieving the control information stored at the locations, including issuing, by the storage array controller, a request to read data stored in the memory blocks at the locations received from the storage device; querying, by the storage array controller, the storage device for locations of any memory blocks tagged with a special identifier indicating that the memory block contains control information, wherein querying includes executing, by a controller on the storage device, an instruction that causes the controller on the storage device to scan a portion of each memory block to identify those memory blocks that include the control information for the storage device; receiving, by the storage array controller and based on the special identifier, from the storage device, the locations of the memory blocks that include the control information for the storage device; and retrieving the control information stored at the locations, including issuing, by the storage array controller, a request to read data stored in the memory blocks at the locations received from the storage device; receiving, by the storage array controller, a request to write data to the storage device; selecting, by the storage array controller, a memory access channel based on the retrieved control information, wherein each memory access channel represents a data communications link between the storage device and the storage array controller, and wherein selecting a memory access channel is carried out by selecting a least recently used memory access channel; identifying, by the storage array controller, a target memory block on the storage device that is accessible via the selected memory channel; and sending, by the storage array controller, a request to write the data to the target memory block via the selected memory access channel.