Link recovery in high-speed four-fiber networks can be achieved using dynam
ic searches, covers of rings, or generalized loopback, We present a method
to provide link recovery for all links in a network without using all links
for backup traffic transmission. The method extends generalized loopback t
o operate on a subgraph of the full backup graph. The backup capacity on su
ch links can then be used to carry unprotected traffic, i.e,, traffic that
is not recovered in case of a failure, while primary fibers on the links re
tain failure protection. Although all primary fibers remain fully robust to
single-link failures, reserving links for unprotected traffic reduces a ne
twork's ability to recover from multiple failures. We explore the tradeoff
between capacity and robustness to two-link failures for several typical hi
gh-speed optical fiber networks, comparing the properties of three fink-res
toration algorithms based on generalized loopback with the properties of co
vers of rings. Our results demonstrate robustness comparable or superior to
that available with revers of rings while providing an additional unprotec
ted traffic capacity of roughly 20% of the network's primary capacity.