Fortinet unveils Secure AI Data Centre to protect large models

Fortinet has launched a new Secure AI Data Centre solution designed to protect artificial intelligence models, data, and infrastructure operating at scale.

The framework includes the latest FortiGate 3800G data centre firewall, targeting enterprise customers seeking to deploy and secure high-density GPU clusters and AI workloads in increasingly complex environments.

AI security focus

The Secure AI Data Centre solution is designed to secure the entire AI technology stack, from supporting data centre infrastructure through to AI applications and large language models. According to Fortinet, the solution delivers advanced threat defence, ultra-low latency, and an average 69% reduction in power consumption compared with traditional approaches.

The solution incorporates the FortiGate 3800G firewall, which uses the company's custom NP7 and SP5 ASIC chipsets and supports 400 GbE connectivity. This is intended to supply the throughput and efficiency needed for demanding AI workloads.

"AI data centers demand both massive performance and deep protection. Our Secure AI Data Centre solution unifies those capabilities, combining ASIC-powered firewalls like the FortiGate 3800G with advanced protection for data, applications and LLMs so organizations can scale AI without compromising security, performance, or efficiency," said Nirav Shah, Senior Vice President of Products and Solutions, Fortinet

Comprehensive framework

Fortinet's new framework covers network segmentation, encrypted traffic inspection, and application and model-level security. It supports enterprises in preventing data leakage, countering malicious input attempts, and meeting emerging AI compliance requirements.

The company says security is embedded at each layer of the AI workflow, which is designed to help reduce operational risks while maintaining the performance needed in GPU-intensive environments.

The solution includes features such as ASIC-accelerated segmentation and performance, designed to provide high throughput while lowering energy costs per gigabit per second, with potential sustainability benefits. The company highlights firewall throughput up to 800 Gbps and support for 200 million concurrent sessions.

Operational integration

The solution integrates with the Fortinet Security Fabric management platform, which aims to simplify security operations by bringing firewalling, application security, and AI runtime protections together under a unified management plane.

This feature is intended to ease compliance and reduce audit complexity.

The offering also includes granular application security for AI models and APIs, using layered defences that monitor and sanitise all traffic before it reaches AI models.

Additionally, quantum-safe security features such as post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution are embedded to address future data security and compliance needs in the coming era of quantum-enabled attacks.

Performance comparisons

Fortinet has provided performance benchmarks suggesting the FortiGate 3800G firewall delivers greater throughput and efficiency compared to similar products from other vendors. It reports firewall performance of 800 Gbps, IPsec VPN throughput of 210 Gbps, and 200 Gbps for threat protection, while concurrently handling up to 200 million sessions. These metrics position the new hardware at the higher end of the current market offering.

Customer perspective

Monolithic Power Systems, an existing enterprise customer, shared its experience deploying the new solution.

"AI is transforming every aspect of our business, from product design to supply chain management, while introducing new operational challenges. The Fortinet Secure AI Data Centre solution gives us the visibility, performance, and protection we need to operate high-density GPU clusters with confidence. With this solution integrated into our AI environment, we can safeguard sensitive models and data while maintaining hyperscale throughput with greater efficiency and cost performance," said Huy Ly, Head of Global IT Security, Monolithic Power Systems