State government IT is often federated, widely dispersed into branch offices and sometimes even integrated with local government programs. A good way to connect branch offices to the increasingly cloud-based applications and services that they need to perform their jobs is to deploy a software-defined wide area network, or SD-WAN.
Doing that removes the need for local offices to connect to headquarters before being routed to those applications, saving time and preventing throughput bottlenecks. However, there is a danger to doing that if a branch office is not adequately protected, since they are also bypassing whatever cybersecurity defenses are in place on the headquarters’ network.
It is this exact situation that led Fortinet to create a series of zero-touch security devices that are tailor-made to provide secure SD-WAN capabilities to branch and remote offices. Appliances such as the FortiGate 40F provide direct access to cloud-based assets for branch offices, but also the security they need to protect themselves in an increasingly hostile environment.
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Flexible Placement Allows Ease of Use
The FortiGate 40F is designed for zero-touch installation. The tiny unit is even designed without fans, so it can be put almost anywhere, from a worker’s desk to a wiring closet. Once connected to a wired gateway, it provides secure SD-WAN capabilities that include anti-virus analysis, application filtering, next-generation firewall protection, an intrusion prevention system, URL filtering, VPN support and web threat protection. And all that works with both encrypted and unencrypted traffic.
Each 40F runs on the same FortiOS operating system that drives most Fortinet appliances, which is designed for ease of use. For example, it’s quite simple to set up to 5,000 firewall rules using that interface, or to prioritize certain types of traffic over others. However, in the event that there are limited IT resources at branch offices, the 40F can also be fully managed remotely.
High-Volume Traffic Is Supported and Inspected
The FortiGate 40F is designed to support all internet-related activities of a small to a medium-sized branch office. It can handle up to 200 concurrent secure VPN users and still be able to route traffic through its cybersecurity inspection modules without delays. It can also support up to 35,000 new TCP sessions per second. And it can do all of that across up to eight FortiSwitch devices and 10 virtual domains.
Adding SD-WAN to branch offices is a smart move to give remote locations the ability to quickly access the cloud-based tools they need to work without clogging up a headquarters network. But it only works if those connections can be protected and secured. The FortiGate 40F security appliance provides both connectivity and protection in a single appliance with a zero-touch setup and plenty of support.
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SPECIFICATIONS
PRODUCT TYPE: Secure SD-WAN Appliance
FIREWALL THROUGHPUT: 5Gbps
ATP INSPECTION SPEED: 600Mbps
MAX CONCURRENT SESSIONS: 700,000
IPS THROUGHPUT: 1Gbps
DIMENSIONS: 8.5 x 5.5 inches x 1.4 inches
