We are a system integrator, so we are dealing with Fortinet and Sophos. I work with all of them, depending on the customer's needs. I have experience with Fortinet, particularly with deployment experience using Fortinet FortiGate-VM, this particular firewall.

For me personally, the best features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are that it is user-friendly and easy to deploy. The GUI is very user-friendly, so anyone can quickly learn how to use it.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is time-saving and robust from a security perspective, so it brings positive benefits to the organization.

In the future, I would like to see configuration backup on email included in Fortinet FortiGate-VM.

The AI capabilities that they launched last year should be enhanced. If we procure FortiManager, then through FortiAI, we can find out the issues or the configuration changes required as per best practices. Those things need to be added to help us troubleshoot more easily. If the AI helps us even with troubleshooting, it will save a lot of time for us as well.

Some of the compatibility and technical support issues are reasons why I rate it eight instead of nine or ten; the rest of everything is good.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate-VM for around five to ten years.

We were facing challenges while deploying Fortinet FortiGate firewall on AWS with Graviton instances; we were not able to build HA. The Graviton processor has some limitations. I do not know exactly what the issue was, but we changed the instance type and then installed it. There must be some compatibility issues with that particular Graviton CPU and Fortinet.

It took a couple of weeks, approximately two to three weeks, to overcome all those issues.

The technical support is very helpful, but reaching technical support is quite difficult because whenever we have raised a ticket, it takes a lot of time to reach them and even make them understand the issue. When we raise a ticket, it routes to some L1 engineer, and they might not have adequate AWS or Azure knowledge, which is why it took a lot of time to get an L3 or L2 engineer and find a resolution.

We have an entire team of ten to fifteen people involved in the process of deployment, and they are the implementation engineers.

With respect to cloud networks, we may require some detailed documentation because that will help improve our implementation.

It was good; I did not find any challenge with Fortinet Security Fabric's real-time threat response capabilities.

We do not utilize Fortinet FortiGate-VM's Hybrid Mesh Firewall feature.

It is better how I assess the impact of Fortinet FortiGate-VM's threat detection on our IT security and our customer's IT security after implementation.

It is very affordable and very competitive pricing; I think it is a good solution. I rate this product eight out of ten.

We are mainly using Fortinet FortiGate-VM firewalls which are particularly hosted in cloud environments. It will connect cloud environments with on-premise networks and secure cloud-hosted VM traffic, both outgoing and incoming traffic. Those are the main requirements we are receiving.

Real-time threat response is really good, and sandboxing and all the signatures are most of the time accurate. They are aligned with recent threats, and Fortinet also has Fortinet Labs where they do their own research and publish new signatures and threats in real-time to the firewalls and all the devices, so I think it is pretty good.

When comparing with Sophos, I think Fortinet's Security Fabric is really nice because they do have more signatures. When we talk about IPS and all these security features, I think Fortinet is good in that aspect.

Fortinet does provide a lot of visibility in Fortinet FortiGate-VM, and some devices do not have an inbuilt HDD. For logs and data retention, they provide the FortiCloud free service for seven days. Using those features, we gather information to troubleshoot and find root causes. They also have a FortiView section, which is very useful to find out the top sources, top destinations, and which sessions are running. It is very useful.

We mainly get firmware upgrades from time to time, and there are bugs. For the moment, I do not have any features in my mind to mention regarding improvements.

Since I have not worked with VMs so frequently, I cannot tell exact points. Overall, you are asking about the improvements which have to be done on the VM side. They are updating frequently, but sometimes it depends on internet connectivity. Those databases are not getting updated in such cases, so external threat feeds are helpful.

I can say it has been about one to two years using it as a company. We use both the platforms.

I have not experienced any stability issues.

It is scalable, but as per my knowledge, the license is bound to the hardware it comes with, which I have read.

I have worked with the customer team and also the technical team. When we come to technical support, they provide very professional support to mitigate threats or troubleshoot issues. They provide the expected support.

Three years ago, I worked in a different company. Now I work in a different one.

I think someone who is new to firewalls can do the initial setup without any issue if they follow the guide. It is not that complex.

Most of the time, we are purchasing it through our local partners and local distributors.

Obviously, when a customer hosts their firewalls in VMs, they will get ROI because they do not need that many specifications or hardware requirements to host a firewall.

It is reasonable.

I am actually working with Fortinet and Sophos, and also I am looking partially for a rival to Checkpoint as well.

Both Fortinet FortiGate-VM and appliance are available. The difference between Fortinet FortiGate-VM and appliance is the platform which you are hosting. In the appliance, I am really seeing the appliance already with the required OS and everything. When we go to the VM side, we have to host the VM according to the defined specifications, and we have to get the licensing for it. Basically, in the firewall maintenance and configuration part, I cannot see any huge difference. It is the same. When we go to the VM side, all the network cable management and some things are happening virtually.

Feature-wise, as per my knowledge, there are no additional features when you go to the VM or the appliance. You can have the same features either you go with the appliance or VM.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM, mainly affordability and flexibility because some customers do have their infrastructure in cloud environments. Some customers do not prefer to use the cloud platform's native firewalls. In those cases, customers are listing to host their own firewall. For cases in those situations, the customer can get the benefit for those areas since it is affordable. I think it is more affordable than cloud-native firewalls.

Benefits mean the main benefit is when a customer is trying to purchase a firewall. They do not need to pay a price for the appliance. They only need to purchase a license. For the appliance, they can use their own platform to host the firewall. I think that is the main benefit when it comes to the VM side.

Overall network security posture: when a customer implements their firewall in the VM in the cloud environment, they can monitor their hosted VMs' outgoing and incoming traffic. They can restrict access, and they can include IPS, AV, ATP, all these things to secure the traffic. I think it is a huge benefit rather than using the native cloud firewall that is provided by the platform.

When we come to threat detection, I can mention IPS as well. Also under the threat landscape, since as I remember, Fortinet FortiGate-VM has the largest signature base in the IPS. They help us to prevent a lot of known threats using their signature database, which updates continuously.

When we compare it with Sophos, I think the most benefits are their security posture. They have a strong security posture in Fortinet FortiGate-VM compared to Sophos. Also the utilization: Fortinet FortiGate-VM OS is very suitable for small hardware because Sophos OS runs on Linux, which requires huge CPU and RAM utilization. Those are the pros and cons when you compare it with Sophos.

We are using that. Recently we have done an implementation where when someone tries to scan our ports in the firewall for a few times, we have scripts to block those IPs. It is very useful and user-friendly. We can get a lot of tasks done through that automation feature.

Rather than depending on Fortinet's security posture, they provide us the possibility to integrate our firewalls with external threat feeds, which is a huge benefit. If Fortinet misses any host or signature update, we can get it updated through the external threat database.

It is very flexible. We can use several external authentication platforms to integrate with our firewall, for example, SAML or LDAP. They provide so many integration points, and as I remember, they are free of charge as well.

You have to size your firewall depending on your connection types and the threat sources. Fortinet FortiGate-VM firewall is based on that. You have to do proper sizing on the VM that you are putting the firewall on.

In our country, Sri Lanka, most of the customers use their internal firewall and perimeter firewalls. When we take all the customers, it is about more than thirty to forty percent using Fortinet FortiGate-VM as their internal or perimeter firewalls. Huge customers, so we do have a high demand for Fortinet for the internal and perimeter levels.

I would rate this product a seven out of ten overall.

My main use case for Fortinet FortiGate includes deploying all Fortinet solutions, from zero to a complete deployment for infrastructure security. This includes securing the internal network infrastructure, securing the edge network for perimeter protection, and interconnecting sites through site-to-site VPN, multi-site, remote access, and SSL VPN.

Additionally, it includes the protection of DMZ servers through the most advanced UTM security profiles of Fortinet.

The use of Fortinet FortiGate helps me with site-to-site VPN and remote access. The use of Fortinet products occurs in real, professional deployment projects for the clients I work with. The specifications are based on the deployment of SD-WAN, site-to-site VPN, multi-site, hub and spoke, SSL VPN, and many other subjects for securing the infrastructure, whether it involves remote sites with small appliances or a head office site with data center or campus appliances.

For interconnecting remote sites, whether through site-to-site VPN or multi-site, the process is simple. It depends on the context and the client's specifications. For a client who has a site to interconnect, it will be a simple site-to-site deployment with IPsec VPN to allow interconnection of different sites. For a client who has several sites, I propose and deploy a hub and spoke setup with ADVPN for scalable interconnection of multiple sites.

The standout features of Fortinet FortiGate include its ease of use, intuitive interface for implementation, and simplified maintenance, administration, and daily management from deployment to monitoring. The accessible support and documentation that Fortinet makes available to all users is essential.

One of the advantages of using Fortinet is that it uses an identical FortiOS system for all Fortinet products. They all have an intuitive interface that is easy to use and learn, even for novices. They can easily integrate and adapt to use Fortinet in different use cases. In my experience with products from other providers such as Palo Alto, Cisco, and Check Point, Fortinet is the only provider to have successfully set up a unified operating system on all its products in the network security ecosystem.

Through a Fortinet FortiGate, you have the ability to manage the entire ecosystem of your network through a simple management system. The Security Fabric of FortiGate allows you to simplify management and threat response from all security equipment that can collaborate and be used together. Additionally, FortiManager accompanies this solution to unify the centralized management of all Fortinet products, using the same FortiOS system.

The use of Fortinet FortiGate in an infrastructure saves time, reduces costs, improves the security of users and resources, and prevents data leakage. When deployed properly to secure the infrastructure, there is increased productivity, improved user performance, and reduction in bandwidth consumption.

I think Fortinet FortiGate can be improved as Fortinet must address significant points of evolution. When I mention points of evolution at Fortinet, I mean they must implement simplified processes for deployment scenarios and enhance their ability to support customers, despite existing documentation and support access.

I started using Fortinet FortiGate over six years ago. In the last three years, the use of FortiGate and many other Fortinet products has become intense and regular.

In my experience, Fortinet FortiGate is not stable at all.

Fortinet FortiGate's scalability is good.

Most of the clients I support technically with their Fortinet products appreciate the service. They don't have any problems, so there is no significant negative feedback.

Before using Fortinet FortiGate, I used Cisco ASA. We switched to Fortinet because they provided much more concrete solutions, were more up-to-date, and focused on network security as their core business.

On the cloud side, purchasing Fortinet FortiGate through the AWS Marketplace is very simple to deploy and easy to set up. My experience with the configuration process in AWS has been globally simple.

I have not seen a return on investment since using Fortinet FortiGate.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is that the licensing and hardware pricing is reasonable compared to other security solution providers. However, Fortinet must review the access to these licenses at reduced prices, and the appliance prices must be reviewed to allow access to all organizations, including small, medium, and large-sized businesses.

I would add that all of Fortinet's UTM protection solutions are solutions that respond to the current ecosystem for the protection of critical infrastructures. My advice to others looking into using Fortinet FortiGate would be that while recommendations are great, they should ask more questions. I rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

Our use cases include link aggregation with core switches and WAN switches solutions when having multiple ISPs to reduce the number of utilization ports in the Fortinet FortiGate firewall. We can provide link aggregation bandwidth and throughput of 1GB and create LACP for their traffic. The solution includes LACP link aggregation solutions, LDAP integrations, and read-write profiles for L1 and L2 access integrations. It also includes dial-up VPN, hub-and-spoke setup, IPsec tunnels setups, and automation features where administrators receive notifications for any changes in the firewall. Currently, in India, approximately 30 to 40% of organizations utilize these devices.

The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate include web filtering and application category functionality. The application category allows web filtering based on categories, which is one of the strengths of the Fortinet FortiGate firewall. The traffic is stable and seamless. We have found minimal bugs in the firmware, and when issues are discovered, they are immediately rectified with TAC engineers.

Fortinet FortiGate can be deployed in both large and small organizations. The solution can be implemented in organizations with 150, 60, or 100 users. We can provide solutions based on their throughput requirements, which is a significant advantage of the firewall.

I require many more features as of now.

I've been working with Fortinet FortiGate for four years.

The traffic is stable and seamless. We have found minimal bugs in the firmware, and when issues are discovered, they are immediately rectified with TAC engineers.

I have not gone in-depth regarding scalability, but from economic, financial, and security level perspectives, everything is manageable and better understood. We also receive support from the TAC team.

Support services are excellent, deserving a rating of 8.5 to 9. Technical support provides better clarity about issues. Only two or three cases rarely remained unresolved by TAC engineers.

When comparing with other OEM levels, we can provide better solutions.

The complexity level is not significant.

When using another OEM firewall, we can provide alternative solutions.

The solution is very easy to understand and handy. We have customers deployed both on-premises and in the cloud. Our main focus is on monitoring bandwidth utilization and identifying which applications are used most frequently and which IPs are affected. We have separate monitoring tools to identify malware or malicious content downloads, providing additional benefits. 

For data center solutions, we provide solutions based on throughput, number of users, and traffic routing from hubs to DC. The application utilization tracking allows us to see bandwidth usage per IP and MAC address, helping allocate traffic shaping for particular departments.

I would rate it a nine out of 10

I primarily use it for the Nextiva SIM firewall and the website application firewall. We strive to serve our customers, including utilizing the SD-WAN feature in FortiGate in our office.

The features that are beneficial for failure mitigation and security include PPN and firewall security. The integration of multiple networks, especially in complex environments such as the finance and manufacturing industries, makes FortiGate valuable. In these industries, it can be difficult to implement and integrate several applications.

Currently, I am working on improvements. One of the main areas is the processing and integration of new features. In my opinion, refreshing the CPM technology with zero-trust access could enhance its performance.

I have used the solution mostly for maybe ten years.

The product has been very stable, based on my ten to eleven years of experience. When I propose FortiGate to customers, hardware problems have been minimal, which suggests a reliable performance.

Scalability is well-supported, with the notable ability to implement features easily. FortiGate offers robust scalability options.

I find the customer service to be good.

Positive

The initial setup typically takes three to five days.

Sometimes, questions arise about the backup position, especially regarding firewall operations. FortiGate, placed next to Nextiva SIM, excels in terms of pricing and operational efficiency. Customers can easily troubleshoot with great technical support. I would rate it nine out of ten.