A system, including: a source node apparatus; a destination node apparatus; the source node apparatus and the destination node apparatus both being in an Internet Protocol/Wavelength Division Multiplexing network; an initial path connecting the source node apparatus to the destination node apparatus; a first router associated with the source node apparatus; a second router associated with the destination node apparatus; and a optical cross-connect associated with the source node apparatus and configured to add and delete at least one additional path between the first and second routers, the first optical cross-connect configured to add and delete the at least one additional path independently and asynchronously of a traffic variation without signaling the destination node apparatus.