Fortinet has introduced a new integrated solution that embeds its FortiGate VM virtual firewall directly onto NVIDIA’s BlueField‑3 data‑processing unit (DPU). The move places core security functions—firewalling, segmentation, and zero‑trust controls—inside the data‑center fabric, allowing AI‑factory workloads to run at line rate without performance penalties.
The BlueField‑3 DPU is a 400 Gb/s infrastructure compute platform that offloads networking, storage, and security tasks from the host CPU. By running FortiOS on the DPU, Fortinet can deliver a 5‑to‑10‑fold performance advantage over traditional software‑based firewalls, keeping security operations at line rate while preserving the high throughput required for AI training and inference.
Fortinet’s launch targets the rapidly expanding AI‑factory market, defined as data‑center environments purpose‑built for developing, training, and running AI models at scale. The company’s strategy of converging networking and security is reinforced, as the new offering positions Fortinet to capture a new revenue stream from enterprises that need secure, high‑performance fabric for AI workloads.
John Whittle, Fortinet’s Chief Operating Officer, said the integration “gives customers a practical way to keep security aligned with the new performance demands of AI, improving isolation, reducing latency, and simplifying policy enforcement across their environments.” Kevin Deierling, Senior Vice President of Networking at NVIDIA, added that the collaboration “extends the model of infrastructure‑offloaded services to include advanced security, enabling line‑rate firewalling and segmentation without impacting GPU workloads.”
The launch signals a strategic pivot toward high‑growth AI infrastructure, positioning Fortinet against competitors that are also exploring DPU‑based security. By embedding security at the fabric level, Fortinet can offer a differentiated solution that meets the stringent throughput and isolation needs of AI factories, potentially accelerating adoption and expanding its market share in the enterprise security space.
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