Fortinet unveils two high-performance switches to securely connect the modern campus
Fortinet announced two new campus switches, the FortiSwitch 600 and 2000.
These switches support the growing connectivity and security needs of the campus with high performance, embedded intelligence, and seamless integration with Fortinet’s AIOps management tool and FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services.
The modern campus requires new levels of connectivity
Users require more bandwidth than ever before, and many organizations are investing in next-generation wireless access points (APs) to provide increased connectivity. Unfortunately, legacy switching solutions often can’t keep up. To ensure network availability and a positive user experience, organizations need high-performance switches that intelligently organize AP traffic and prevent bottlenecks.
FortiSwitch 600 and 2000: Access and core switches for the connected campus
The new FortiSwitch 600 and 2000 expand Fortinet’s secure, simplified, and scalable switching portfolio. They are designed with the performance and port density to meet the demands of the modern campus and scale as connectivity needs grow.
The FortiSwitch 600 series is a multi-gigabit secure campus access switch with up to 5GE access and 25GE uplinks to optimize network performance by intelligently supporting traffic from next-gen APs to business-critical destinations.
The FortiSwitch 2000 series is a campus core switch designed to support larger, more complex campus environments by aggregating high-performance access switches, like the FortiSwitch 600. Both include a dual power supply for the redundancy today’s high-performance campuses require.
A platform approach to secure connectivity
Fortinet has delivered wired and wireless LAN solutions that converge networking and security since the company’s founding 20 years ago. The new switches announced are the latest additions to our secure connectivity platform, which provides comprehensive security, access control, and unified management throughout the LAN.
Customers who use FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls as a switching controller eliminate overlays while benefitting from FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services like advanced malware protection, IPS, sandboxing, and web filtering. And all FortiSwitch models integrate with FortiAIOps, Fortinet’s AI for IT operations tool that provides real-time insights into potential network issues and automates manual tasks.
Bringing networking and security into a single solution provides visibility into the entire LAN and enables NAC functionality, like profiling and onboarding new users and devices, at no extra charge.
“Fortinet has delivered secure switching solutions for 20 years, making it uniquely positioned to empower customers with a comprehensive secure connectivity solution for the entire LAN. We are the only vendor offering fully converged wired and wireless networking and AI-powered security through a single platform, providing visibility and security from the moment a user or device connects to the network,” said John Maddison, CMO and EVP, Product Strategy at Fortinet.
“Our campus environment supports thousands of students and faculty, and Fortinet switches helped us modernize our infrastructure to offer the consistent connectivity and Power-over-Ethernet they need. And by managing all of our switches through FortiGate NGFWs, we consolidated point products into a unified platform that offers more visibility into potential security risks than we’ve ever had before,” said Jeff Howlett, Chief Information Officer, Meredith College.
“Our customers need powerful solutions that can scale with their connectivity needs, especially within high-performance networking. By partnering with Fortinet, Mainline can offer next-generation switches with the access, uplink, and power organizations need, as well as a pathway to a simplified and secure platform for their entire LAN. The FortiSwitch can stand on its own but where it really shines is when paired with other solutions within the Fortinet Security Fabric,” said Ryan Ryszka, Security Systems Engineer, Mainline Information Systems.