1. In an agile optical network having a plurality of interconnected switching nodes, a network operating system NOS comprising: at an embedded layer organized in embedded domains under control of a shelf processor SP, a SP for controlling operation of all optical modules in said embedded domain based on physical, logical and topological data reported by said optical modules; at a network services control NSC layer organized in spans of control SOC under control of a respective NSC, a NSC for controlling operation all network elements NE in said SOC based on physical, logical and topological data reported by said NEs; a distributed topology server DTS for organizing said data as managed objects MO and topological objects TO based on said physical, logical and topological data for constructing a complete network view.