Fortinet secures campus networking with high-end switches

Fortinet has expanded its campus network portfolio with two new switches that feature integration with Fortinet’s security services and AIops management tool.

The FortiSwitch 600 is a multi-gigabit secure campus access switch that supports up to 5GE access and 25GE uplinks. The FortiSwitch 2000 is a campus core switch designed to support larger, more complex campus environments by aggregating high-performance access switches, including the FortiSwitch 600.

The new switches are integrated with Fortinet’s FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services and FortiAIOps management tool, which lets customers utilize security and operations features such as malware protection, device profiling and role-based access control.

“The new switches are, in part, driven by the growing workforce returning to the office, increasing bandwidth and throughput requirements on the campus network,” said Nirav Shah, vice president of products at Fortinet. “The new switches include a deep integration with our security and AI-powered services to help customers flexibly support more users and manage the campus.”

The FortiSwitch 600 is the new flagship product for Fortinet’s campus switches. The switch supplants but does not replace the current FortiSwitch 400 series, which is primarily a 1GE access port switch in comparison to the full multi-gig E and 802.3bt, 90W power available in the FS-600 series, Shah said. 

The FortiSwitch 2000 is now the lead campus core switch, joining Fortinet’s 1000 series to provide aggregation of secure access and campus switch lines. These campus core switches feed into Fortinet’s 100GE 3000 series data center switches, Shah said.

On the software side, both switches run FortiSwitchOS, which offers features including zero-touch provisioning, network monitoring and troubleshooting, network traffic analysis and management.

The operating system supports Fortinet’s Security Fabric, which provides a unified security management platform. Key to the operating system’s security integration is that FortiSwitch and FortiGate next-generation firewall devices are designed to work as a single, integrated system, Shah said. The combination includes access control and the ability to handle a variety of security tasks, including advanced malware protection, IPS, sandboxing, and web filtering – all from a single management location.

The switches also integrate with FortiAIOps, the vendor’s technology operations tool that provides real-time insights into potential network issues and can automate manual tasks.

The FortiSwitch 600 and 2000 series switches are available now.