1. A method for controlling data transfer in a network comprising; a) receiving rate-limited data from two or more data sources at one or more undersubscribed merge circuits, wherein the one or more undersubscribed merge circuits has a bandwidth that is greater than a bandwidth required to transmit the received rate-limited data; b) combining data flows from the two or more data sources with the one or more undersubscribed merge circuits to provide a first merged data flow containing the data from the two or more data sources; c) transmitting the first merged data flow to one or more oversubscribed merge circuits, wherein the one or more oversubscribed merge circuits has a bandwidth that is less than a bandwidth required to transmit the first merged data flow; d) combining the first merged data flow with at least one other data flow at the one or more oversubscribed merge circuits to provide a second merged data flow; and e) provisioning the second merged data flow for transmission to the data's next processing stage.