Abstract: The invention provides methods and systems for provisioning fault-tolerant ring structures that do not necessarily involve fully provisioning all spans of a ring with service capacity. The system allows a plurality of nodes to be connected in a ring structure. The ring structure can allow a ring to be provisioned without a continuous loop of service capacity around all legs of the ring. This postpones or totally avoids the cost of service capacity until a demand requires it. Only protection capacity is required to close the loop, and the decision to add working capacity can be made as warranted. At the same time, this ring structure can retain its fault-tolerant nature and also provide acceptable performance.