Fortinet FortiCore 3800E
SDN Security Appliances

Hardware:

FortiCore 3700E

Interfaces

1. Console Port
2. 2x USB Ports
3. 10/100/1000 RJ45 Management Port
4. 32x 10 GE SFP+ Ports
5. High-Speed Network Interfaces (none for 3600E, 4x 40G QSFP for 3700E, 2x 100 G QSFP28 for 3800E)

Cardinal Flow Processing (CFP)

• The FortiCore architecture eliminates scaling limitations in SDN switching by distributing programmed flow across four independent CFP units
• Each interface is assigned to a CFP unit based cardinal direction (Northbound, Southbound, Eastbound, Westbound), analogous to data center design
• Cardinal Flow Processing units can support wildcard flows that are applied to all associated interfaces, providing greater flexibility in programming flows
• Each CFP unit can sustain up to 200 Gbps of aggregate traffic forwarding, with support for over 50K programmed REGEX flows per unit using a single-table pipeline, and an additional 500K simple-match programmed flows per unit when using a multi-table pipeline
• This results in an effective line-rate SDN forwarding appliance, with the exceptional programmed flow scalability needed for network-based security solutions

SDN Data Plane Switching

The FortiCore’s Local Switch Processor supports very highperformance and low-latency switching functions required for emerging core-routed and data center architectures:

• All models support 32x 10G interfaces
• The FortiCore 3700E includes an additional 4x 40G interfaces
• The FortiCore 3800E includes an additional 2x 100G interfaces

Generous Control Plane Resources

The FortiCore’s control plane was designed to support the current OpenFlow 1.3 protocol requirements at exceptional rates for new programmed flows, as well as future-proofing for emerging SDN protocol requirements:

• Dual 8-core Intel CPUs
• 64 GB of RAM
• Internal 40 Gbps forwarding path between control/data planes

Deployment:

Scaling Security Beyond Datasheet Limits

The principal goal of the FortiCore is the creation of scalable network-based security solutions that go well beyond the datasheet limits of an individual security appliance. FortiCore’s massive performance and flow capacitance allow the creation of provision-able solutions using the programmable capabilities of software-defined networking (SDN).

Combined with an SDN controller and SDN applications, FortiCore solutions can be integrated into carrier/cloud programmable provisioning systems.

The FortiCore deploys in a path-centric fashion, allowing you to connect an array of network security functions onto any given high-performance link within a core routed environment, including 100G links. The security devices associated with the FortiCore can be varied, based on traffic inspection requirements. Using the capabilities of SDN to program network flows onto the FortiCore, traffic-of-interest can be redirected through a variety of network security devices, while maintaining the symmetric traffic requirements of each device.

In leaf-spine data center architectures, where all leaf switches are connected to every spine switch, resulting in all hosts within a data center being one-hop from each other, the FortiCore as a security leaf allows the deployment of centralized traffic inspection to protect data center resources.

Defending Programmable Networks

Specifications:

Documentation:

Download the Fortinet FortiCore Series Datasheet (.PDF)