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DEPLOYMENT GUIDE:
Secure Cloud-managed Wireless LAN Solution
Overview
Distributed enterprises, dissatisfied with the cost and complexity of traditional controller-based
enterprise WLAN solutions, are turning to cloud-managed Wi-Fi as a more practical alternative.
But most Cloud Wi-Fi solutions fall short on content and application security, leaving
businesses vulnerable to cyber-threats. Fortinet’s secure cloud-managed Wi-Fi addresses this
shortcoming completely.
Cloud Wi-Fi Evolution
Distributed enterprises such as retail, hospitality, health clinics and managed care facilities
have historically been poorly served by enterprise WLAN vendors. Traditional controller-based
solutions are generally too complex and too expensive for small businesses or those with
multiple sites requiring only a few APs each.
To address this growing market, enterprise WLAN vendors have ported their management and
controllers to the cloud, simplifying management and reducing CAPEX. With a cloud-managed
Wi-Fi architecture customers now only need to buy and configure APs, not controllers or
management servers.
But, the apparent simplicity of cloud-management has not come without a price. Security
beyond standard Wi-Fi access control is invariably lacking. In large enterprises, content and
application security is normally provided through specialized security appliances for IPS, web-
filtering, anti-virus and so on. But in Cloud-Wi-Fi these functions are absent. The result is cloud-
managed Wi-Fi solutions are inherently not as secure as controller-managed WLANs.
Secure Cloud Wi-Fi
Fortinet’s secure cloud-managed
WLAN solution is unlike any
other Cloud Wi-Fi offering. It
offers the same network security
capabilities found in Fortinet’s
controller-managed enterprise
WLAN solution with the
convenience and low CAPEX of
cloud-based management.
