A hierarchical and distributed control architecture for managing an optical communications network. The architecture includes a line card manager level for managing individual line cards in an optical switch, a node manager level for managing multiple line cards in an optical switch/node, and a network management system level for managing multiple optical switches/nodes in a network. An event manager at the node manager level enables software components that are running at the node manager to register for and receive events, and to post events. The events may be triggered, e.g., by a change in a status of the switch, or an alarm condition. Control architecture functionalities include signaling, routing, protection switching and network management. Furthermore, the network management function includes a topology manager, a performance manager, a connection manager, a fault detection manager, and a configuration manager.