Fortinet FortiGate-VM Reviews

There have been no improvements. We would just use another device if this one did not exist.

None of them. It is a classic firewall, but better than the free versions.

Yes, we encountered stability issues in IPSec Module. The tunnels freeze sometimes.

Yes, we encountered scalability issues in IPSec Module. The tunnels freeze sometimes.

I would give technical support a rating of a nine out of 10. 

I used SonicWall, before they were sold to Dell. After Dell bought them, some issues came out.

I used Check Point, which was terrible for me. You can do almost nothing without software. The web interface does nothing. I do not like solutions with many components. In Check Point, you need to use over three interface to dig up anything.

I used Palo Alto 3020. It is a marvellous solution, but a bit expensive against its competitors. You can do everything in the web interface. There is no need for any installation (does not exist) and to manage it. It works quickly changing configuration and applying configuration. (Comparatively, FortiGate is fast in applying configuration.) You can easily rollback the previous configuration and backup configuration in Palo Alto. The firmware upgrade is like a baby's toy in Palo Alto.

İt is not fast to rollback config in SonicWall.

I used Untangle, pfSense, etc. However, there is no need to talk about them.

The pricing and licensing are not as expensive as its competitors. This applies to SonicWall, too.

Check Point and Palo Alto are very expensive solutions, because of the ownership and renewal costs.

I evaluated different options before choosing FortiGate. It has four separate modules which give fast reactions when it is analysing. It has an app ID and user ID option, which are the most important.

Be aware of your own requirements.

Use of this product does not require daily interactions, like our previous firewall service option.

Simplicity of daily operations would be my favorite facet of this gem.

No issues. Operations have been flawless, so far.

No issues noted.

Technical support has been super responsive and dedicated to getting any challenges resolved.

We had a previous solution and switched due to a corporate decision to eliminate some subscription fees.

This product was nearly plug and play. There are some tables and rules to make custom decisions based on our daily workloads and philosophy as an educational setting.

I was not involved in that aspect. Therefore, I cannot provide information along these lines.

I was not involved in the corporate decision-making.

Draw out a plan of what traffic to unconditionally allow (whitelist) and what traffic to restrict under what conditions, before you even unwrap the box.

It has taken me a little while to gain confidence in this product, but I am there now. There were challenges during setup, and many of them were self-inflicted.

High network throughput while providing leading edge network security technology for a competitive price.

Real-time sandboxing with the FortiGate UTM network.

The user interface (UI) and the performance of interface both need improvement.

No issues.

No issues.

I would rate technical support with a 10 out of 10 (perfect score).

Our previous solution simply did not live up to expectations.

Setup is straightforward. I am certified in the Fortinet line of solutions. Even without this knowledge, it is easy to adjust the product to your requirements.

It is on par with what you receive. It can be expensive upfront. 

It would be nice to have the ability to extend FortiGuard subscriptions at a reasonable yearly cost versus a bulk three year pricing.

We evaluated Cisco, Meraki, SonicWall, and Juniper.

Having support from your vendor is nice. Calling Fortinet directly with a support contract, they will help you take care of all your requirements. 

It has allowed us to centralize every network service into one appliance, administrating all traffic going in and out of my company. Its given us only one point of monitoring and auditing, getting us visibility of all network traffic in an easy way. 

The UTM. In particular, the IPS module is my favorite because of the security advantage reached with a few clicks and its automatic updates.

Yes, we have experience stability issues, when the product sizing is wrong or on configuration errors.

Yes, we have experience scalability issues, but only when the product sizing is wrong.

Technical support is good.

We previously used mostly Cisco products. We changed because of support and feature costs.

It is always complex when you migrate from a complex solution to another one.

It is an expensive solution if you are migrating from an open source solution. 

If you are in a licensed solution, like Cisco or Palo Alto, it is cheaper. I do recommend using it with a license, because it is a security solution and it needs updates.

Cisco, Sophos, and SonicWall.

I recommend it 100%. Go ahead and implement it.

We are implementers of Fortinet among other things (Cisco, Sophos, HPE Networking, VMware, EMC, Zimbra, etc.).

From security changes to VPN setup to web filtering, changes happen now more quickly.

The web GUI is easy to use. 

The tech support calls were not the best and could be improved. There have been times when we felt as if we knew more about the device than the support person on the phone. 

No issues.

No issues.

I would rate technical support as a seven out of 10. It is hit or miss. Most hits, but a few tech support calls were not the best.

We used ASA (ASA 5510) before this. You had to have ASDM loaded and fight with different versions of Java just to administer the device.

We needed to do an upgrade, and for the cost of a new ASA, we got two FortiGates which have a web GUI that do not rely on Java.

Initial setup is very straightforward with a wizard, if needed.

Not applicable.

No, we did not evaluate other options. It was the firewall rated numerically behind Palo Alto, and we could afford this one.

It was no different than any other rollout. Do as much configuring before dropping it into your environment (especially if you are using content filtering with multiple groups) and make sure you are able to rollback to the old device, if necessary. 

The primary use case for Fortinet FortiGate-VM involves formulating policies and services within the environment.

They could provide more integration options with different platforms.

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for six months.

I rate the platform's stability an eight out of ten.

We have 200 Fortinet FortiGate-VM users in our organization. I rate the scalability a ten out of ten.

The initial setup process is simple. It involves defining the parameters for deployment, such as the number of sites, PCs, and Wi-Fi users.

We don't have to pay for the licenses. But we might purchase licenses in the future.

FortiGate improved security within our virtualized environment by providing robust first-line defense capabilities and optimized cost-effectiveness.

It provides an ease of management and configuration as well. I rate it a nine out of ten.

We primarily use it to protect edge devices. We use it as a firewall.

It's a very simple solution to manage.

It's quite stable.

The scalability potential is good.

It's an easy solution to configure.  

The pricing is pretty good.

I'd like for it to be possible to cluster together data centers. Right now, we have two data centers that are a thousand kilometers apart. It would be nice to be able to string them together.

I've been using the solution since 2005.

The solution is quite stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

The product is very scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.

The entire company ends up using the solution, and we have between 25,000 and 50,000 employees. We have about five offices and in each data center, we use Fortigate.

Occasionally, if the partner cannot resolve the problem, you do have to work with some Fortigate techs. They are excellent and quite helpful. 

I am working with Fortinet, Cisco, Palo Alto, and Forcepoint. I am using ASA from Cisco. It's very difficult to manage. Palo Alto is excellent, and the best in the market. Fortigate is right behind them. The central management is great.

While the product is easy to configure, I cannot get into specifics in regards to the initial setup. It's handled by a partner. We pay them to do the setup.

The actual installation process is pretty quick. It might take about half a day or so. 

I'd rate the experience of setting up the solution at a five out of five. 

There are bout five people that can handle the maintenance of the product across our different data centers. They are all administrators. 

Our partner sets up the solution for us. 

We've seen a decent ROI as it has helped us maintain a good level of security. I'd rate the ROI we've seen at a five out of five. 

We tend to have a three-year contract with Fortigate. While I don't know the exact costs, my understanding is that it is less expensive than some other options. 

I'm a customer and an end-user.

We use the on-premises version due to the fact that, in Algeria, we do not use cloud deployments. 

I'd advise potential new users that it's a good edge solution, and not necessarily the best for data centers.

I'm very happy with this product and would rate it at a ten out of ten.

FortiGate-VM's firewall is excellent. 

FortiGate's application load balancing has to be improved. They need to improve a lot on the load balancing and RAF side. They are far behind Citrix in that regard.

I've been using FortiGate-VM for around three years. 

Yeah. It is stable. I don't say it's not a stable product.

In terms of scalability, I'd rate it six out of 10.

I rate FortiGate-VM six out of 10.