FortiADC

Why do you need FortiADC?

An application delivery controller sits in the part of the IT infrastructure where everything passes through one device, which makes its own availability part of the application’s availability. That is the first thing to design here, before algorithms and offloading — what happens to traffic when this box is the one that fails.

The load balancer is also the component whose own failure stops the application entirely. Traditional ADCs can’t keep up with modern application requirements - HTTP/3, microservices, API-first architecture. Lack of integrated WAF creates security gaps.

FortiADC is an Application Delivery Controller combining advanced load balancing with built-in WAF. Hardware-accelerated SSL handles up to 200K TPS, and support for HTTP/3 and Kubernetes ensures readiness for modern application architectures.

How does it work?

L4/L7 Load Balancing

Intelligent traffic distribution:

• Layer 4: TCP/UDP, DSR, NAT mode
• Layer 7: Content-based routing, URL switching
• 10+ algorithms - round robin, least connections, fastest response
• Cookie persistence and session affinity
• Health monitoring with custom checks

SSL/TLS Acceleration

Hardware-accelerated cryptography:

• RSA up to 4096-bit, ECDSA
• TLS 1.3 with Perfect Forward Secrecy
• SNI support for multi-tenant
• Let’s Encrypt automation
• HSM integration for enterprise

Web Application Firewall

Web application protection:

• OWASP Top 10 protection
• SQL injection, XSS, CSRF
• Machine learning detection
• API protection
• Virtual patching

Key Features

Global Server Load Balancing

• Multi-site load balancing
• Geographic routing
• Latency-based routing
• Disaster recovery automation
• Authoritative DNS with DNSSEC

Application Optimization

• HTTP compression and caching
• TCP optimization
• Connection multiplexing
• HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 (QUIC)
• WebSocket and gRPC support

High Availability

• Active-passive and active-active
• VRRP with floating IP
• Session synchronization
• Stateful failover
• Configuration sync

Security Fabric Integration

• FortiGate coordination
• FortiSandbox scanning
• FortiAnalyzer logging
• Automated threat response

FortiADC Portfolio

Model	L7 Throughput	SSL TPS	Use Case
400F	4 Gbps	15K	SMB
700F	8 Gbps	50K	Mid-size
1500F	20 Gbps	100K	Enterprise
4000F	80 Gbps	200K	Data center

FortiADC-VM: Hyper-V, KVM, AWS, Azure, GCP

FortiADC Container: Kubernetes Ingress, OpenShift, Docker

Who is it for?

• Organizations needing efficient load balancing with built-in WAF
• DevOps teams deploying Kubernetes and microservices
• Enterprise with multi-site GSLB requirements
• Companies migrating applications to HTTP/3

Benefits

For IT: Hardware SSL acceleration, multi-protocol support, simplified operations

For security: Built-in WAF, OWASP protection, Fabric integration

For business: Application availability, performance optimization, reduced TCO

Specification

Max throughput	80 Gbps (4000F)
SSL TPS	Up to 200K
Protocols	HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC
Deployment	Hardware, VM, Container

FAQ

How does FortiADC differ from a standard load balancer? FortiADC combines ADC with built-in WAF, SSL acceleration and GSLB in one device. Security Fabric integration.

Does FortiADC support HTTP/3? Yes. HTTP/3 (QUIC) is supported. Also HTTP/2, WebSocket and gRPC for modern applications.

How does WAF work in FortiADC? Signature-based + machine learning. OWASP Top 10 protection, SQL injection, XSS plus API protection.

Is there a version for Kubernetes? Yes. FortiADC works as Kubernetes Ingress Controller. Deployment via Helm charts.

How does SSL offloading work? Hardware-accelerated. RSA up to 4096-bit, ECDSA, TLS 1.3. Up to 200K SSL TPS in 4000F model.

What is GSLB? Global Server Load Balancing - distributing traffic between data centers based on geographic proximity or latency.

Does FortiADC integrate with FortiGate? Yes. Native Security Fabric integration, FortiSandbox scanning, FortiAnalyzer logging.

How does high availability work? Active-passive, active-active, VRRP. Session sync and stateful failover for zero downtime.

Are virtual versions available? Yes. FortiADC-VM for Hyper-V, KVM and AWS, Azure, GCP marketplace.

What does support look like? Fortinet 24/7 TAC. nFlo as partner offers ADC deployment and application optimization.