Fano resonances appear in quantum mechanical as well as classical systems as a result of the interference between two paths: one involving a discrete resonance and the other a continuum. Compared to a conventional resonance, characterized by a Lorentzian spectral response, the characteristic asymmetric and "sharp" spectral response of a Fano resonance is suggested to enable photonic switches and sensors with superior characteristics. While experimental demonstrations of the appearance of Fano resonances have been made in both plasmonic and photonic-crystal structures, the control of these resonances is experimentally challenging, often involving the coupling of near-resonant cavities. Here, we experimentally demonstrate two simple structures that allow surprisingly robust control of the Fano spectrum. One structure relies on controlling the amplitude of one of the paths and the other uses symmetry breaking. Short-pulse dynamic measurements show that besides drastically increasing the switching contrast, the transmission dynamics itself is strongly affected by the nature of the resonance. The influence of slow-recovery tails implied by a long carrier lifetime can thus be reduced using a Fano resonance due to a hitherto unrecognized reshaping effect of the nonlinear Fano transfer function. For the first time, we present a system application of a Fano structure, demonstrating its advantages by the experimental realization of 10 Gbit/s all-optical modulation with bit-error-ratios on the order of 10 -7 for input powers less than 1 mW. These results represent a significant improvement compared to the use of a conventional Lorentzian resonance.Ultra-compact photonic structures that perform optical signal processing such as modulation and switching at high-speed with low-energy consumption are essential for enabling integrated photonic chips that can meet the growing demand for information capacity . It remains, however, an important task to identify and demonstrate PhC structures that can meet the low-energy and high-bandwidth requirement. In cavity-based switches an applied control signal changes the refractive index of the cavity, thereby shifting the cavity resonance and modulating the transmission of the data signal. The shape of the transmission spectrum is then very important, since it determines the refractive