Australian university ramps up threat protection with Fortinet
Australian university ramps up threat protection with Fortinet
After about seven years of implementing solutions from Fortinet, Griffith University in Australia has decided to ramp up the security around the network through additional Fortinet appliances.
As its network grew to more than 37,000 users, in 2010, the University upgraded its Fortinet deployment to include the FortiGate-3951 appliance for antivirus protection and intrusion prevention. In addition, FortiWifi-50B appliances were added to help support the University’s new 3G wireless project. Griffith University has redeployed the FortiGate-3810, FortiGate-3600 and FortiGate-800 appliances, originally purchased for deeper protection of its wireless networks. To manage and analyze all network traffic, the University has also deployed a FortiAnalyzer-2000A appliance. In addition to logging and reporting, the University is leveraging the vulnerability management feature of the FortiAnalyzer to scan its network for vulnerabilities.
Griffith University is regarded as one of Australia’s most innovative tertiary institutions and one of the Asia-Pacific region’s most influential universities. With five campuses and more than 37,000 faculty, staff and students using the open network, it was critical for them to protect specific parts of the network – the network perimeter, the network core and the wireless network.
“During peak times of the day, the University sees 190,000 concurrent sessions and FortiGate’s IPS functionally can handle it great,” said Gary Galbraith, principal network engineer at Griffith University. “The Fortinet appliances are performing well. They work and don’t require babysitting − they do their job.”
Griffith also conducted its own independent tests using commercial load testing equipment from IXIA and found that the FortiGate-3951 appliance met or exceeded performance benchmarks stated in its datasheets. For example, stress tests showed a maximum ramp up rate of 4600 new "processed" connections per second. During the session ramp up test the concurrent sessions maintained was much higher at 500,000-650,000 sessions and stable. Overall, the FortiGate-3951 showed it could handle 900,000 concurrent sessions and 500Mbps of throughput without any network performance degradation.
“Enterprises and institutions such as Griffith University are rapidly seeing the benefits of deploying a few or all security functionalities available in FortiGate appliances,” said Kevin Dyson, regional director for Fortinet Australia and New Zealand. “By offering multiple functionalities within a single appliance, Fortinet allows its customers to pick and choose what is necessary for their individual network.”
Something New, Something Old – Still Secure
A FortiGate-3951 appliance is located on the outside of the University’s network and provides full denial of service, intrusion prevention and antivirus functionality. Another FortiGate-3810 appliance is located on the internal network and is being used for denial of service protection.
To clean the wireless network of all campuses, Griffith University has deployed FortiGate-3810 and FortiGate-3600 appliances. The FortiGate appliances help act as the gateway denial of service, antivirus and intrusion prevention solution for all traffic going to and from the wireless and remote access networks.
As its network grew to more than 37,000 users, in 2010, the University upgraded its Fortinet deployment to include the FortiGate-3951 appliance for antivirus protection and intrusion prevention. In addition, FortiWifi-50B appliances were added to help support the University’s new 3G wireless project. Griffith University has redeployed the FortiGate-3810, FortiGate-3600 and FortiGate-800 appliances, originally purchased for deeper protection of its wireless networks. To manage and analyze all network traffic, the University has also deployed a FortiAnalyzer-2000A appliance. In addition to logging and reporting, the University is leveraging the vulnerability management feature of the FortiAnalyzer to scan its network for vulnerabilities.
Griffith University is regarded as one of Australia’s most innovative tertiary institutions and one of the Asia-Pacific region’s most influential universities. With five campuses and more than 37,000 faculty, staff and students using the open network, it was critical for them to protect specific parts of the network – the network perimeter, the network core and the wireless network.
“During peak times of the day, the University sees 190,000 concurrent sessions and FortiGate’s IPS functionally can handle it great,” said Gary Galbraith, principal network engineer at Griffith University. “The Fortinet appliances are performing well. They work and don’t require babysitting − they do their job.”
Griffith also conducted its own independent tests using commercial load testing equipment from IXIA and found that the FortiGate-3951 appliance met or exceeded performance benchmarks stated in its datasheets. For example, stress tests showed a maximum ramp up rate of 4600 new "processed" connections per second. During the session ramp up test the concurrent sessions maintained was much higher at 500,000-650,000 sessions and stable. Overall, the FortiGate-3951 showed it could handle 900,000 concurrent sessions and 500Mbps of throughput without any network performance degradation.
“Enterprises and institutions such as Griffith University are rapidly seeing the benefits of deploying a few or all security functionalities available in FortiGate appliances,” said Kevin Dyson, regional director for Fortinet Australia and New Zealand. “By offering multiple functionalities within a single appliance, Fortinet allows its customers to pick and choose what is necessary for their individual network.”
Something New, Something Old – Still Secure
A FortiGate-3951 appliance is located on the outside of the University’s network and provides full denial of service, intrusion prevention and antivirus functionality. Another FortiGate-3810 appliance is located on the internal network and is being used for denial of service protection.
To clean the wireless network of all campuses, Griffith University has deployed FortiGate-3810 and FortiGate-3600 appliances. The FortiGate appliances help act as the gateway denial of service, antivirus and intrusion prevention solution for all traffic going to and from the wireless and remote access networks.
Although I have to say that
Although I have to say that I appreciate their level of security, my opinion is that they could invest more money in leadership classes. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with me?