Performance of fiber Raman amplifier is explored with special emphasis on higher order pumping configurations for wavelength division multiplexed optical transmission systems. The amplification analysis is done in terms of equivalent noise figure (ENF), optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), and double Rayleigh backscattering (DRBS) noise powers. The investigations reveal that at 36 dB on--off gain, ENF improvement of 1 dB (using second order pumping) and of 2 dB (using third order pumping configuration) can be achieved. On similar lines, by varying input optical power and fiber length, OSNR and DRBS are reported for the higher order of pumping configurations. Overall, the work presents improvements of about 1 dB in ENF and 0.03 dB in OSNR. These investigations are produced at lower input signal powers.