OC-12 Features and Benefits

OC12 OVERVIEW

Our Internet Dedicated OC12 offers businesses greater bandwidth flexibility with a 622 Mbps connection with bandwidth commitment levels beginning at (Burstable Select starts at 50Mbps) 150 Mbps. Internet Dedicated OC12 uses Packet over SONET (POS) technology instead of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) to maximize bandwidth. POS encapsulates the IP packet within Frame Relay (FR) and then places the IP packet within a SONET envelope for transmission. POS allows IP traffic to make optimum use of the available bandwidth and reduces inefficiencies in data delivery.

OC12 FEATURES

When you choose our Tiered OC12 Dedicated Internet as your dedicated access to the internet, the following features are available with the product:

Complete 622 Mbps circuit provisioned from a Carrier-owned hub to the customer's premises. Fixed available bandwidth selected by the customer with a fixed monthly cost.
Dedicated and assigned Install Engineer
Included Primary-Secondary DNS Hosting
IP Addresses Allocation: IP address space is a finite resource that is an essential requirement for all Internet Access products. Every customer, from dial-up and ISDN, all the way to OC-3 packet over SONET IP (POSIP), needs IP addresses for Internet connectivity.

Customer IP address space can come from several different sources:

Grandfathered from InterNIC (usually large organizations that have existed on the Internet pre-1998).
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) (IANA usually only releases address space to the primary registries themselves, but they've been involved with assigning Class A networks in the past. They have a current role in the assignment of space from Class A network 24 which is reserved for use by cable companies providing commercial Internet service.)
Assigned from a primary registry (ARIN, RIPE, APNIC).
Portable space from another Internet Service Provider (ISP) (usually address space below the 206.x.x.x range and probably quite old).
Non-portable space from another ISP (for customers that intend to multihome with another ISP).
Non-portable space from one of our Carriers.

The company allocates address space to customers on a per-justification basis. In other words, there is not a set amount of address space that is assigned to a particular type of service (i.e., a T1 customer could conceivably have a legitimate need for more address space than an OC-3 customer could). For the technical purpose of IP justification, the size of the pipe (bandwidth) is not relevant.

Weekly/monthly usage statistics
24x7 technical support
Industry leading service level agreements
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Relay

Note: This product is available only in conjunction with new or existing Internet Access Products.

UUCP (UNIX to UNIX Copy Protocol) Feed Over TCP
POP3 E-mail accounts (available for an additional fee)

Predictable Reliability with OC12

Online trading. Video and Voice over IP. E-commerce. CRM. Your vital business applications have become critical to the way you do business. Using patented technology, we are the only company to offer you redundant, high-speed Internet connections to all the major Internet backbones, ensuring operational continuity by routing around network congestion, poor performing links or disabled providers. The result is a network that consistently runs at peak efficiency for you and your customers.

Proven OC12 Performance

Our network performance management provides a superior Internet experience. Featuring guaranteed 100 percent operational uptime, and the lowest packet loss and latency in the industry, we provide you with a proactive industry-leading Service Level Agreement (SLA) that covers the entire Internet - not just one single network. Why should you believe us? Unlike our competitors, we believe so strongly in the consistent performance of our network that we offer proactive SLA notification and automatic bill credits if we ever break our SLAs. This is proof positive of our commitment to provide the very best network performance available.

World-Class Client Support

There is no substitute for accountability. Our client support team is distinctive in its steadfast commitment to providing direct access to certified IP engineers at its Network Operations Center (NOC). Technology professionals are on call with a global view and information to resolve your issues quickly and effectively, and to your complete satisfaction. Direct access to our expert technical staff is only part of the GCG advantage; you also save money by minimizing troubleshooting and downtime.

OC12 BENEFITS

Low Cost & Flexible Pricing Plans

The OC-12 Price Protected is a product that allows you to connect to the IP network via Packet Over Sonet (POS). POS provides lower packet overhead than Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). Internet Dedicated OC-12 Price Protected is offered as a full circuit with fixed monthly pricing. The full circuit is available and you pay the same discounted rate, regardless of usage. Additionally, an OC-12 can eliminate the need for multiple lines to support voice, data and video applications. Discounted, term and volume contract options offer a choice of savings plans.

OC12 Capacity

With OC Double/Diverse you can easily and cost-effectively increase bandwidth while keeping the same router and adding an additional Packet over SONET Interface Processor (POSIP). You get additional capacity to share traffic requests and avoid overloading a single OC-12 connection. Dedicated Internet access via OC12 connection available in Full Port and Commit/Burst Pricing Plans

OC12 Performance

OC12 Business Internet accesses to the Internet at speeds up to 622 mbps. OC-12 circuits are provisioned on SONET rings. In general, OC12 circuits have higher performance, lower latency, and increased reliability versus metropolitan Ethernet or long-haul waves. We offer 'Tier 1', blended 'Tier 2' bandwidth, and low-cost bandwidth based on availability. The perceived benefit of a Tier 1 provider is its backbone. A Tier 1 provider takes you from the West Coast to the East Coast in one big hop, with lower latency than other providers. Additionally, Tier 1 providers have better peering and routing, resulting in faster delivery of your traffic.

OC12 Reliability

Internet Dedicated OC-12 is for customers who need additional reliability and redundancy which the Internet Dedicated OC-12 Shadow provides in a low cost back-up solution. If the primary connection should be unable to pass packets, the Internet Dedicated OC-12 Shadow connection automatically takes over your IP traffic. This change in traffic flow is handled by Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) so there is no need for any manual configuration change. Our all-fiber synchronous optical network (SONET) guarantees up to a 99.999 percent service level agreement (SLA).

OC12 Expandability

The Internet Dedicated OC-12 Tiered service allows you to begin your OC-12 connection at a capped low bandwidth tier with a fixed monthly cost. Since a full OC-12 circuit is provisioned from your site directly into a Carrier owned hub, customers may quickly upgrade to a higher bandwidth tier at any time by simply calling their Business account manager. There are no additional services that need to be installed, which provides flexibility and an easy upgrade path that is based on what you need at a fixed monthly cost.

OC12 Security

Fiber-optic circuits are tamper resistant, providing an extra level of security. Also as your network will be connected to the Internet, your company should have a firewall. If your company is transmitting sensitive data (such as financial or health records) then you should encrypt the data before sending the data over the Internet.

Ease of Use & Router Flexibility

Layer-1 access.
Customers can cross connect within common facilities.
Lease a managed Cisco® CPE
Purchase a customer-managed Cisco® CPE
Provide your own, GCG-approved, customer-managed Cisco® CPE

OC3 to OC192 Throughput

Port availability up to OC48, but we can provision circuits up to OC192.

OC-N Multiplexing

Multiple services can be multiplexed into OC-N services to take advantage of economies of scale. For example, it is less expensive to install and maintain one high speed line than it is to run multiple lower speed lines. We can multiplex lower speed lines at the end points and potentially save you money.