Fortinet FortiGate 4201F-DC

The FortiGate 4201F-DC is the storage-equipped member of the 4200F series, a high-end next-generation firewall (NGFW) built for large enterprises and service providers. It adds 2x 2TB SSD onboard storage to the same hardware platform, which is used for local logging and analytics on the appliance itself. It runs on DC power, making it suited to telecom and data-centre racks that use -48V to -60V DC feeds instead of mains AC.

On the Enterprise traffic mix, the series delivers 52 Gbps of IPS throughput, 47 Gbps of NGFW throughput and 45 Gbps of threat protection throughput, with firewall throughput reaching up to 800 Gbps (1518-byte UDP) at 600 Mpps. It supports up to 450 million concurrent TCP sessions, 7 million new sessions per second, 210 Gbps of IPsec VPN throughput and 50 Gbps of SSL inspection throughput.

Connectivity is provided by 8x 100GE QSFP28/40GE QSFP+ slots and 16x 25GE SFP28/10GE SFP+/GE SFP slots (plus 2 HA and 2 AUX slots), with 2x GE RJ45 management ports and a console port. The unit ships as a 3U rack-mount chassis with dual redundant, hot-swappable DC power supplies (-48V to -60V DC, 25-32A per PSU) and supports Active/Active, Active/Passive and clustering HA configurations.

Key features

• SPU NP7 and CP9 hardware-accelerated processing
• 2x 2TB SSD onboard storage for local logging and analytics
• 8x 100GE QSFP28/40GE QSFP+ slots and 16x 25GE SFP28/10GE SFP+/GE SFP slots (plus 2 HA and 2 AUX slots)
• Up to 800 Gbps firewall throughput and 600 Mpps
• Up to 450 million concurrent TCP sessions and 7 million new sessions/second
• IPsec VPN throughput of 210 Gbps across up to 40,000 gateway-to-gateway tunnels
• SSL inspection throughput of 50 Gbps with 9 million concurrent inspected sessions
• Active/Active, Active/Passive and clustering HA configurations
• 3 RU rack-mount chassis with dual redundant, hot-swappable power supplies
• -48V to -60V DC power input for telecom and data-centre racks

Works with

• FortiGate high-end firewalls
• FortiGuard licences & renewals

Frequently asked questions

Do I need the bundle, or can I buy hardware only?

Hardware-only gets you the appliance with SPU NP7/CP9 acceleration and no FortiGuard subscription active. The bundle variants add FortiCare Premium support plus either FortiGuard Unified Threat Protection (UTP) or Enterprise Protection for a fixed 1, 3 or 5 year term, which is the simpler route if the firewall needs to be licensed from day one.

What does the -DC in 4201F-DC mean?

The 4201F-DC is the DC-powered version of the 4201F. It takes -48V to -60V DC input instead of mains AC, which is the standard feed in telecom and data-centre racks, and is otherwise built to the same specification as the AC model.

How do I size a deployment against these numbers?

Real-world throughput depends on the security profile enabled (IPS, SSL inspection, application control) and average packet size, so the Enterprise traffic mix figures above are the most realistic planning baseline. The 4200F series ships with 8x 100/40GE QSFP28 slots and 16x 25/10GE SFP28/SFP+ slots plus dedicated HA and AUX slots, and supports Active/Active, Active/Passive and clustering HA configurations. Talk to us with your expected traffic mix and port requirements before committing to a model.

Sizing a FortiGate deployment? Call 0333 242 1314 or email sales@clisecure.com.