Fortinet excels in NSS Labs SD-WAN group test

Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, has announced results from NSS Labs’ first Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) Group Test.

Fortinet’s FortiGate SD-WAN excelled in every category assessed by NSS Labs, showcasing a number of advantages, including:

• Lowest total cost of ownership (TCO): FortiGate SD-WAN delivers the lowest TCO per Mbps (VPN throughput) among all participating vendors. This is because of FortiGate SD-WAN’s custom-built security processors that rely on a new generation SOC3 (system-on-a-chip) to accelerates performance

“Fortinet leads the industry by combining best-of-breed SD-WAN and security in an integrated solution,” said John Maddison, SVP of Products and Solutions, Fortinet. “The findings of the recent 2018 NSS Labs group tests highlight Fortinet as the only vendor in the industry to receive a ‘recommended’ rating in the SD-WAN and next-gen firewall group tests. FortiGate SD-WAN leverages patented security processor unit (SPU) technology to deliver exceptional total cost of ownership, giving our customers a competitive advantage with their digital transformation journey.”

A top choice for secure SD-WAN

Traditional WAN solutions are breaking under the pressure of digital transformation. Growing traffic volume from the adoption of cloud services and increasing bandwidth consumption by voice and video are creating network bottlenecks and higher costs. SD-WAN offers a compelling alternative, which is why many enterprises are embracing it.

But SD-WAN doesn’t come without its challenges, including degradation in the quality of sensitive apps like video and voice, as well as difficulty managing performance and the breadth of different applications and services. Additionally, many SD-WAN solutions aren’t natively secure, with bolt-on security creating a fragmented solution model that presents security risks and inefficiencies.

Fortinet’s FortiGate SD-WAN tackles the most difficult challenges of secure SD-WAN deployment and was the only NGFW security vendor to receive a ‘recommended’ rating in NSS Labs’ first-ever Software-Defined Wide Area Networking Report.

Voice and video, two of the most difficult business-critical functions to prevent degradation, experienced virtually no loss of quality with FortiGate SD-WAN, even during brownout conditions. The test results also showed FortiGate SD-WAN to deliver excellent VPN performance and exceptional total cost of ownership.

FortiGate SD-WAN is integrated into Fortinet’s award-winning next-generation firewall, which recently received a fifth consecutive ‘recommended’ rating from NSS Labs, blocking 100% of evasions and delivering high SSL performance. Combining high performance SD-WAN with an award-winning NGFW ensures organisations enjoy all the benefits of SD-WAN while keeping their data safe.

FortiGate SD-WAN works within a security fabric built around NSS Labs-recommended solutions

Fortinet solutions consistently demonstrated superior security effectiveness, advanced features and superior performance when put to the test. Fortinet’s commitment to testing and validation has resulted in Fortinet solutions earning NSS Labs Recommended ratings across nine different group tests:

• Next-Generation Firewall
• Software-Defined Wide Area Networking
• Data Centre Intrusion Prevention Systems
• Data Centre Security Gateway
• Breach Prevention Systems
• Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention System
• Breach Detection Systems
• Web Application Firewall
• Advanced Endpoint Protection

All of Fortinet’s NSS Labs-recommended solutions are designed to interoperate as part of a holistic security architecture through the Fortinet Security Fabric, producing a powerful, integrated end-to-end security solution across the entire attack surface.

Vikram Phatak, Chief Executive Officer of NSS Labs, said: “Fortinet continues to perform well in NSS Labs group testing. FortiGate SD-WAN delivers a high quality of experience for voice and video, excellent VPN performance and good total cost of ownership. Fortinet’s FortiGate SD-WAN should be considered by any organisation looking for an affordable and effective offering that combines NGFW security and high performance SD-WAN.”