Survivable Optical WDM Networks investigates different approaches for designing and operating an optical network with the objectives that (1) more connections can be carried by a given network, leading to more revenue, and (2) connections can recover faster in case of failures, leading to better services. Different networks – wavelength-routed WDM networks, wavelength-routed WDM networks with sub-wavelength granularity grooming, and data over next-generation SONET/SDH over WDM networks – are covered. Different approaches are proposed to explore every aspect of a protection scheme such as: (1) Protection granularity: a. At wavelength granularity. b. At sub-wavelength granularity (2) Protection entity: a. Path protection. b. Sub-path protection. c. Segment protection. (3) Routing: a. Single-path routing. b. Multi-path routing. Tradeoffs between different objectives, e.g., resource efficiency vs. recovery time, are explored and practical approaches are proposed and analyzed.