Embodiments are disclosure relating to a front-end controller in a storage system. In one embodiment, a storage request is received at a storage device in a group of storage devices. The storage request identifies one or more data segments of a data stripe pattern assigned to the storage device by a front-end controller of the group. In such an embodiment, the storage device communicates the identified data segments with a storage client independently of the front-end controller. In some embodiments, the storage system includes a front-end, distributed redundant array of independent drives (RAID). In one such embodiment, the storage devices independently receive storage requests from a client over a network, and one or more of the storage devices are designated as parity-mirror storage devices for a stripe.