Network processors (NP6, NP6XLite, NP6Lite, and NP4)

FortiASIC network processors work at the interface level to accelerate traffic by offloading traffic from the main CPU. Current models contain NP6, NP6XLite, and NP6Lite network processors. Older FortiGate models include NP1 network processors (also known as FortiAccel, or FA2), NP2, NP4, and NP4Lite network processors.

The traffic that can be offloaded, maximum throughput, and number of network interfaces supported by each varies by processor model:

• NP6 supports offloading of most IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, IPsec VPN encryption, CAPWAP traffic, and multicast traffic. The NP6 has a maximum throughput of 40 Gbps using 4 x 10 Gbps XAUI or Quad Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface (QSGMII) interfaces or 3 x 10 Gbps and 16 x 1 Gbps XAUI or QSGMII interfaces. For details about the NP6 processor, see NP6, NP6XLite, and NP6Lite acceleration and for information about FortiGate models with NP6 processors, see FortiGate NP6 architectures.
• NP6XLite is a component of the Fortinet SOC4 and supports the same features as the NP6 but with slightly lower throughput. The NP6XLite also includes new features and improvements, such as the ability to offload AES128-GCM and AES256-GCM encryption for IPsec VPN traffic. The NP6XLite has a maximum throughput of 36 Gbps using 4x KR/USXGMII/QSGMII and 2x(1x) Reduced gigabit media-independent interface (RGMII) interfaces. For details about the NP6XLite processor, see NP6XLite processors and for information about FortiGate models with NP6XLite processors, see FortiGate NP6XLite architectures.
• The NP6Lite is a component of the Fortinet SOC3 and is similar to the NP6 but with a lower throughput and some functional limitations (for example, the NP6Lite does not offload CAPWAP traffic). The NP6Lite has a maximum throughput of 10 Gbps using 2x QSGMII and 2x RGMII interfaces. For details about the NP6Lite processor, see NP6Lite processors and for information about FortiGate models with NP6 processors, see FortiGate NP6Lite architectures.
• NP4 supports offloading of most IPv4 firewall traffic and IPsec VPN encryption. The NP4 has a capacity of 20 Gbps through 2 x 10 Gbps interfaces. For details about NP4 processors, see and for information about FortiGate models with NP4 processors, see .
• NP4lite is similar to the NP4 but with a lower throughput (but with about half the performance )and some functional limitations.
• NP2 supports IPv4 firewall and IPsec VPN acceleration. The NP2 has a capacity of 2 Gbps through 2 x 10 Gbps interfaces or 4 x 1 Gbps interfaces.
• NP1 supports IPv4 firewall and IPsec VPN acceleration with 2 Gbps capacity. The NP1 has a capacity of 2 Gbps through 2 x 1 Gbps interfaces.
  • The NP1 does not support frames greater than 1500 bytes. If your network uses jumbo frames, you may need to adjust the MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) of devices connected to NP1 ports. Maximum frame size for NP2, NP4, and NP6 processors is 9216 bytes.
  • For both NP1 and NP2 network processors, ports attached to a network processor cannot be used for firmware installation by TFTP.

Sessions that require proxy-based security features are not fast pathed and must be processed by the CPU. Sessions that require flow-based security features can be offloaded to NPx network processors if the FortiGate supports NTurbo.