Purchasing Resources for OC-48 Broadband

Making the Most of OC-48 Broadband

Locate the best OC48 connection for your business needs
By Emmet McMahan Making the most of OC-48 broadband requires that you understand the purpose of this level of Internet service. OC48 broadband frequently serves as the backbone for many regional Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and may also be used by larger ISPs for transit purposes. The only common connections that surpass a OC-48 connection are OC-192 and 10 gigabit Ethernet.

OC-48 stands for Optical Carrier 48 with the number specifying the multiplier of the base rate of carrier level, which is 51.84 million bits per second (Mbit/s). The speed of an OC-48 fiber optic network conforms to the Synchronous Optical Networks (SONET) standard. There are three additional methods of describing the OC-48 carrier service:

1. Synchronous Transport Module (STM-16); This is a multiple of the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) fiber optic network transmission standard STM-1 which has a bit rate of 155.52 Mbit/s.
2. Synchronous Transport Signal (STS-48); This is a multiple of the basic unit of measure STS-1 used by SONET.
3. A network line that carries data at a maximum rate of up to 2488.32 Mbit/s; A maximum of 2405.376 Mbit/s for an OC48 internet connection may be payload.

Learn technical information about OC 48 speed

There is a great deal of technical information available on transmission protocols. A thorough understanding of the technology involved will aid in your search for a service provider for your business. It is especially important to know the relative transmission speeds of these different technologies.
Try:  Searchnetworking.com describes the OC system and provides a conversion chart for each OC level. Learn more about SONET technology, including the OC levels of data transmission, at Infocellar.

Access data sheets for equipment used by OC48 service providers to create WAN connections for ISPs

Service providers frequently need OC-48 equipment to incrementally expand existing infrastructures in a cost-effective manner. These units should have features that will allow diverse deployment options that include DS1, Ethernet and optical services delivery to their subscribers.
Try:  Finisar provides detailed product specification sheets for its OC-48 equipment. DatasheetCatalog.com maintains datasheets for OC-48 equipment from a variety of manufacturers.

Look for current news that informs OC48 providers about increasing T-1 lines

ISPs frequently resell their telecommunications capacity to their subscribers in the form of T-1 service. Many websites keep regular blogs and posts that offer helpful news and information about OC-48 equipment and ISPs.
Try:  Converge! Network Digest reports on network news including OC-48 equipment and is able to search articles for keywords. Read current news articles on OC-48 equipment at EE Times.

• Many OC48 service providers offer this level of broadband service in burstable or fractional rates. A burstable line has a minimum transmission speed although the exact throughput is variable. Fractional service is a fixed percentage of the full rate.

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