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Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs NVIDIA Mellanox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.8
Fortinet FortiSwitch provides cost-effective security and easy deployment, appealing to users despite potential technological gaps for larger enterprises.
Sentiment score
1.0
Users reported time and cost savings from NVIDIA Mellanox, highlighting improved performance, reduced latency, increased efficiency, scalability, and reliability.
It allows me to apply Zero Trust technology, which is currently the trend in the world and is needed for security layers.
Cyber Security Manager at Greater Cairo Water Company (GCWC)
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
Fortinet FortiSwitch support is knowledgeable and professional, with room for improvement in response times and initial resolutions.
Sentiment score
7.5
Customers desire multilingual NVIDIA Mellanox support, rating it satisfactory to good, while often relying on peer assistance.
They are knowledgeable, professional, and assist with any issues.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
Their expertise is very professional.
Cyber Security Manager at Greater Cairo Water Company (GCWC)
It's a potential area for improvement, possibly in terms of response time or quality.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I would assess their technical support as good—not the best, but it is good.
CEO at Tekpulse Ltd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Fortinet FortiSwitch offers scalable network solutions, integrating seamlessly with FortiGate, ideal for medium to large enterprise expansions.
Sentiment score
5.8
NVIDIA Mellanox's scalable leaf and spine architecture efficiently supports network growth for organizations across various sectors.
You just need to connect another switch or replace the current one, and it integrates well with the existing setup.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
For enterprise solutions, it's extendable easily with options for edge connectivity or stackable devices.
IT Director at Rabbit Mart
With uniform Fortinet FortiGate switches, adding or removing switches without reconfiguring individually is straightforward.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.7
Fortinet FortiSwitch delivers reliable, stable performance with high user ratings, despite occasional configuration or power challenges during transitions.
Sentiment score
5.8
Users are satisfied with NVIDIA Mellanox for its reliable performance and stability, with improvements noted over time.
I have never experienced any crashes, outages, or downtime.
Cyber Security Manager at Greater Cairo Water Company (GCWC)
The tool is robust and lasts for three to four years without needing replacement.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
I would give it a nine out of ten for stability.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I would rate it a seven because the old versions were not stable, but it is becoming stable over time.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiSwitch faces challenges with pricing, support, complexity, missing features, poor documentation, and a non-competitive warranty.
NVIDIA Mellanox needs improved user-friendliness, better integration, enhanced GUIs, faster support, and occasional bug fixes.
Fortinet needs to perform extensive testing to improve its reliability.
Cyber Security Manager at Greater Cairo Water Company (GCWC)
The machine is robust and lasts for years with rare technical issues.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
The introduction of AI integration could be valuable for detecting abnormal traffic directly on the switch.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I think it's okay; it's the best solution for now for AI data centers.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiSwitch offers robust functionality with high pricing, seen as affordable compared to competitors despite exchange rate impacts.
NVIDIA Mellanox offers competitive pricing, strong performance, and cost-effective licensing, making it a highly-rated, affordable enterprise solution.
It has increased by about two hundred percent over the past three years.
IT Director at Rabbit Mart
The initial cost of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is high compared to other options.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
The price is very affordable.
Cyber Security Manager at Greater Cairo Water Company (GCWC)
For its performance, it's cheaper.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiSwitch offers enhanced security, centralized management, and seamless integration, valued for performance, reliability, and ease of use.
NVIDIA Mellanox excels in performance, flexibility, and integration with AI systems, making it ideal for data centers.
This centralized management saves time and ensures seamless scalability.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access are inspection capabilities for endpoints in the same VLAN and in the same subnet, which are unique to Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access.
Cyber Security Manager at Greater Cairo Water Company (GCWC)
The powerful integration capabilities allow us to manage all devices from a single interface through the firewall.
IT Director at Rabbit Mart
The biggest advantage is that the vendor is the only one providing no-drop traffic.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secu...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NVIDIA Mellanox
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
19th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is 3.6%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NVIDIA Mellanox is 2.0%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access3.6%
NVIDIA Mellanox2.0%
Other94.4%
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

HM
Cyber Security Manager at Greater Cairo Water Company (GCWC)
Zero Trust access has improved branch security and provides granular visibility for all devices
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access has substantial automation because the configuration is managed from FortiGate dashboard. Automation increases performance and decreases installation time. I mentioned the unique specifications of the switch and the solution at the start. Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access granular visibility features have helped me manage IoT devices. I can see every device in the network and the details about each device because FortiGate has an inventory of every device, making the integration between Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access and FortiGate unique. The deep integration with Fortinet's Security Fabric is very important for threat intelligence in my organization. Reliability is key, and automation contributes significantly to network performance optimization in my organization. I have to use FortiLink for automatic UTM extension, as it is a unique proprietary protocol to manage Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access through FortiGate. Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is a switch that is related to its Secure Access feature. I gave this review a rating of 9.
Nurudeen Suleiman - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Tekpulse Ltd
Automation and integration improve operations efficiently
We wanted to utilize the advanced InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions offered by NVIDIA, but the users are not too familiar with the InfiniBand environment, which is why we are using the Linux Cumulus 5.6, which is usually the normal Ethernet. I am familiar with NVIDIA Mellanox, as I have products from NVIDIA on review here on our website. I use enhanced multi-tenancy features. Currently, within the data center, we have mixtures of both Cisco Nexus switches, NVIDIA switches, and Huawei switches, so eventually, we are changing all the switches to NVIDIA. On a scale of 1-10, I rate NVIDIA Mellanox an eight.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Ethernet Switches solutions are best for your needs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business39
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

Which would you choose - Fortinet Fortiswitch secure access or Cisco Ethernet Switches?
We researched Cisco but ultimately chose Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access, mostly because of the price. Fortinet FortiSwitch is an ethernet switch solution that provides security and performance...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access?
I believe enhancement in security is essential for Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access. Fortinet needs to perform extensive testing to improve its reliability. If they achieve that, I think it wil...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mellanox Switches?
The pricing is competitive. For its performance, it's cheaper, so I would rate it a four if cheaper is lower.
What needs improvement with Mellanox Switches?
The feature we would want to see in future updates of NVIDIA Mellanox is improved accessibility for normal users, as quite a lot of experience is needed before using Mellanox. None of the Mellanox ...
What is your primary use case for Mellanox Switches?
NVIDIA Mellanox is usually used for numerous purposes, but in our case, we are using it in a data center for high-end servers running 200 gig interfaces, and we are able to link it up with Ansible ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Mellanox Switches, Mellanox SN2700
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
CNPC, Korea Consumer Agency, Nutanix, Roxo Systems, StorPool, Atlantic.Net, INFN, StarWind, NYSE Technologies, Creative Consultants, ENKI
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs. NVIDIA Mellanox and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.