BlueField-3 & AI Factory Firewall

A DPU (BlueField-3) is a computer on the network card; Check Point AI Factory Firewall runs on it via DOCA to secure AI-factory GPU servers inline — with zero GPU/CPU impact.

BlueField-3 hardware

Part	Spec (up to / typical)
Arm cores	Up to 16 × Armv8.2+ (Cortex-A78); 8 MB L2 + 16 MB LLC
ConnectX-7 NIC	400 Gb/s, Ethernet or InfiniBand — the data path
Datapath Accelerator	16 cores / 256 threads, programmable
HW accelerators	Crypto (IPsec/TLS), RegEx, compression/dedupe, storage
Memory / storage	DDR5 5600, ~32 GB onboard · ~128 GB SSD
Programmed via	NVIDIA DOCA framework
Successor	BlueField-4 (~6× compute, ~2× throughput) — roadmap

Part

Spec (up to / typical)

Arm cores

Up to 16 × Armv8.2+ (Cortex-A78); 8 MB L2 + 16 MB LLC

ConnectX-7 NIC

400 Gb/s, Ethernet or InfiniBand — the data path

Datapath Accelerator

16 cores / 256 threads, programmable

HW accelerators

Crypto (IPsec/TLS), RegEx, compression/dedupe, storage

Memory / storage

DDR5 5600, ~32 GB onboard · ~128 GB SSD

Programmed via

NVIDIA DOCA framework

Successor

BlueField-4 (~6× compute, ~2× throughput) — roadmap

Figures are "up to" and vary by SKU. Source: NVIDIA BlueField-3 datasheet.

Socket	Job
CPU	General-purpose logic; runs the OS and apps
GPU	Parallel math; trains and runs AI models
DPU	Moves & guards data: networking, storage, security

Socket

Job

CPU

General-purpose logic; runs the OS and apps

GPU

Parallel math; trains and runs AI models

DPU

Moves & guards data: networking, storage, security

Term	Is
DOCA	NVIDIA's SDK/framework to program BlueField ("CUDA for DPUs")
DOCA Argus	Agentless host introspection via direct memory access — sees all host processes

Term

DOCA

NVIDIA's SDK/framework to program BlueField ("CUDA for DPUs")

DOCA Argus

Agentless host introspection via direct memory access — sees all host processes

Win	Because
Tamper resistance	Guard runs on separate silicon / own OS — survives a host compromise
Zero performance tax	Inspection uses DPU compute, not host CPU/GPU cycles
East-west coverage	Inline at every node → sees node-to-node traffic, not just the edge

Win

Because

Tamper resistance

Guard runs on separate silicon / own OS — survives a host compromise

Zero performance tax

Inspection uses DPU compute, not host CPU/GPU cycles

East-west coverage

Inline at every node → sees node-to-node traffic, not just the edge

Layer	Capabilities	Built on
1 · Network	NGFW, identity-based access, IPS, virtual patching, anti-malware (inline, N-S + E-W)	DPU data path (ConnectX-7 + accelerators)
2 · Host	All-process visibility; stops local code exec, priv-esc, malicious LLM processes	DOCA Argus (direct memory access)

Layer

Capabilities

Built on

1 · Network

NGFW, identity-based access, IPS, virtual patching, anti-malware (inline, N-S + E-W)

DPU data path (ConnectX-7 + accelerators)

2 · Host

All-process visibility; stops local code exec, priv-esc, malicious LLM processes

DOCA Argus (direct memory access)

Threat	Layer
Data poisoning	Network
Model theft / exfiltration	Network
Model inversion · DoS · unauthorized access	Network
Malicious process in downloaded LLM	Host
Local code exec / privilege escalation	Host
Lateral movement between GPU nodes	Network (E-W)

Threat

Layer

Data poisoning

Network

Model theft / exfiltration

Network

Model inversion · DoS · unauthorized access

Network

Malicious process in downloaded LLM

Host

Local code exec / privilege escalation

Host

Lateral movement between GPU nodes

Network (E-W)

Deployment & naming

Fact	Detail
Current name	AI Factory Firewall (was AI Cloud Protect, renamed Oct 2025)
Runs on	NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs; validated on NVIDIA RTX PRO Servers
Packaging	NGC container `nvidia/doca-checkpoint/aicp`
Management	Multi-tenanted, predefined AI security policies; standard orchestration
Status	GA, on-prem enterprise

Fact

Detail

Current name

AI Factory Firewall (was AI Cloud Protect, renamed Oct 2025)

Runs on

NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs; validated on NVIDIA RTX PRO Servers

Packaging

NGC container nvidia/doca-checkpoint/aicp

Management

Multi-tenanted, predefined AI security policies; standard orchestration

Status

GA, on-prem enterprise

Authoritative docs

Product claims → Solution Brief, Getting Started Guide, and SecureKnowledge (search "AI Factory Firewall"). Hardware → NVIDIA BlueField-3 datasheet & DOCA docs. Don't cite a guessed sk#.

DPU security in one page

The story in one line

BlueField-3 hardware

CPU vs GPU vs DPU

DOCA vocabulary

Why security on the DPU

Check Point AI Factory Firewall — two layers

Threats it stops

Deployment & naming