Fortinet integrates FortiGate VM with NVIDIA BlueField-3

Fortinet and NVIDIA introduced an integrated solution that embedded core security functions into data center infrastructure to secure private cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) environments without slowing workloads.

The companies said data center modernization for AI and private cloud called for higher throughput than traditional workloads, and that placing protection in the infrastructure helped maintain security while avoiding impact on critical workloads.

FortiGate Virtual Machine (VM) Radio Access Network (RAN) directly on NVIDIA BlueField-3 data processing units to move firewalling, segmentation and zero-trust controls off the host Central Processing Unit (CPU) and into the Data Processing Unit (DPU). FortiOS powered the deployment, and the validated guide described configuration using Open Virtual Switch (vSwitch) bridges, Wide Area Network (WAN) and Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) tunnels and the placement of FortiGate VM images on BlueField-enabled servers, with segmentation enforced within the infrastructure fabric.

“As enterprises are modernizing their data centers to support AI, private cloud and edge applications require much higher throughput than traditional workloads,” said John Whittle. “Integrating FortiGate VM on BlueField-3 DPU gives customers a practical way to keep security aligned with these new performance demands. By moving firewalling, segmentation, and zero-trust controls on the DPU, we help organizations improve isolation, reduce latency, and simplify consistent policy enforcement across their environments.”

“AI factories demand an entirely new class of secure, accelerated infrastructure,” said Kevin Deierling. “By running FortiGate VM directly on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs, we’re extending the model of infrastructure-offloaded services to include advanced security. This collaboration allows organizations to enforce firewalling, segmentation and zero-trust policies at line rate, without impacting GPU workloads. Together with Fortinet, we’re delivering the secure, high-performance fabric customers need to build and scale their AI-powered data centers with confidence.”

Support began with FortiOS 7.6.3, and Fortinet published a validated deployment guide with access available through Fortinet sales representatives for the validated hardware configurations.