Cybersecurity & IT Operations Professional (VirtualCxO) at BrainWave Consulting Company, LLC
Consultant
Top 20
Nov 1, 2017
I've deployed Fortigate devices in a number of different networks, including some with the following characteristics:
A - 100 users, 1 office, dual 1gbit links
B - 300 users, 6 offices, main office with dual 150Mbit links, other offices with one or two 50-100Mbit links
C - Churches (single or dual links, 50-100Mbit)
D - 150 users, 4 offices, 2 data center sites, dual 1gbit links at data centers, 25-50Mbit links at offices
Cybersecurity & IT Operations Professional (VirtualCxO) at BrainWave Consulting Company, LLC
Consultant
Top 20
Nov 1, 2017
The new generation 3 ASICs provide minimal performance even with all features turned on. This can be found in the E models.
I've found the Fortigate product matrix to be very accurate in terms of the performance levels, so you have to review that to see what the impact is going to be for a specific set of features. I haven't use WatchGuard in nearly 10 years, so no comment from me on them.
COO/CTO at a pharma/biotech company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Nov 1, 2017
I have used Fortigates for 6 years. Like you, similar experiences augmented by an additional support subscription due to my early learning curves. What I did not realize was the speed compromises with all the security apps active - if I have a Verizon FiOS true Gig subscription, my speed was tapered down to 100 Mbps or less. That is a 90% reduction. With 6 users multiplied by cell phones accessing the same WiFi, you can imagine the data speeds we were actually working with.
So, I picked WatchGuard, the T70 specifically. The data speeds with everything turned on remains near the subscription (1 Gig) and I have the same types of protections as the Fortigate. It is too early to report the reliability and other specs since this has changed only in the last week, but the specs tell me a lot that helped me to understand what I missed on my first go-around with Fortigate. Don't get me wrong, I had zero issues over the last 6 years to Fortigate's credit. However, that speed compromise doesn't work for me. Perhaps I missed something, but my support knows the product and there were no adjustments available, other than turning certain feature off. I couldn't afford that security risk, not these days.
Cybersecurity & IT Operations Professional (VirtualCxO) at BrainWave Consulting Company, LLC
Consultant
Top 20
Oct 31, 2017
What size networks are you trying to protect?
Fortinet has a range of solutions (as does Barracuda), and to broadly compare one family vs another is generally not that productive. The Fortigate family shares the same interface and overall features across the entire family at competitive price points.
Policies can be made very granular and track on users as well as devices, and on applications and not just sites.
Cyber Security Consultant at a tech services company
Consultant
Aug 12, 2017
Barracuda is a true Next Generation firewall that can better protect your network from zero day exploits. Barracuda comes with 2 AV engines out of the box. More importantly the Barracuda firewall comes with application, mail and web filtering capabilities. Web filtering is a great way to prevent unwanted programs from stealing sensitive data. It works by blocking malicious IP addresses hackers often use in ransomeware attacks.
Fortinet FortiGate and Barracuda CloudGen Firewall are robust network security solutions. While Fortinet FortiGate is recognized for its comprehensive security functions and reliability, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall demonstrates strength with its network performance enhancements and cloud integration.Features: Fortinet FortiGate provides high-performance throughput, extensive security features like intrusion prevention and application control, and impressive cloud operability. Barracuda...
I've deployed Fortigate devices in a number of different networks, including some with the following characteristics:
A - 100 users, 1 office, dual 1gbit links
B - 300 users, 6 offices, main office with dual 150Mbit links, other offices with one or two 50-100Mbit links
C - Churches (single or dual links, 50-100Mbit)
D - 150 users, 4 offices, 2 data center sites, dual 1gbit links at data centers, 25-50Mbit links at offices
Hi Andrew - as to the network size, what metric are you using for that?
The new generation 3 ASICs provide minimal performance even with all features turned on. This can be found in the E models.
I've found the Fortigate product matrix to be very accurate in terms of the performance levels, so you have to review that to see what the impact is going to be for a specific set of features. I haven't use WatchGuard in nearly 10 years, so no comment from me on them.
www.fortinet.com/content/dam/fortinet/assets/data-sheets/Fortinet_Product_Matrix.pdf
I have used Fortigates for 6 years. Like you, similar experiences augmented by an additional support subscription due to my early learning curves. What I did not realize was the speed compromises with all the security apps active - if I have a Verizon FiOS true Gig subscription, my speed was tapered down to 100 Mbps or less. That is a 90% reduction. With 6 users multiplied by cell phones accessing the same WiFi, you can imagine the data speeds we were actually working with.
So, I picked WatchGuard, the T70 specifically. The data speeds with everything turned on remains near the subscription (1 Gig) and I have the same types of protections as the Fortigate. It is too early to report the reliability and other specs since this has changed only in the last week, but the specs tell me a lot that helped me to understand what I missed on my first go-around with Fortigate. Don't get me wrong, I had zero issues over the last 6 years to Fortigate's credit. However, that speed compromise doesn't work for me. Perhaps I missed something, but my support knows the product and there were no adjustments available, other than turning certain feature off. I couldn't afford that security risk, not these days.
What size networks are you trying to protect?
Fortinet has a range of solutions (as does Barracuda), and to broadly compare one family vs another is generally not that productive. The Fortigate family shares the same interface and overall features across the entire family at competitive price points.
Policies can be made very granular and track on users as well as devices, and on applications and not just sites.
Barracuda is a true Next Generation firewall that can better protect your network from zero day exploits. Barracuda comes with 2 AV engines out of the box. More importantly the Barracuda firewall comes with application, mail and web filtering capabilities. Web filtering is a great way to prevent unwanted programs from stealing sensitive data. It works by blocking malicious IP addresses hackers often use in ransomeware attacks.