Redundant Pathways For Network Elements

A method for establishing an alternate pathway to an endpoint that may determine that a network connection is lost between a first network element and an application server. The method may select a second network element from a virtual network operating on an optical network. The second network element may include a network connection over the optical network to the application server, and a network connection to the first network element over the virtual network. The method may designate the second network element to act as a network proxy to the first network element. The first network element may use the second network element as the network proxy for receiving data over the virtual network. The method may receive data from the application server at the first network element using the second network element as the network proxy.