Fortinet offers various services, including Return Merchandise Authorization, 24×7 toll-free call centers in every region and online web chat. Technical support is available via FortiCare and comes with a free yearly subscription.
Both vendors offer excellent performance and impressive features. However, Fortinet may be better for appliance-based distributed enterprises and branch office needs, while Palo Alto Networks is a strong choice for cloud, container and FWaaS use cases.
Cost
Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks offer a wide range of security products, including next-generation firewalls. Their NGFWs are designed to protect networks of any size, and they both provide multiple features, such as advanced threat protection, unified access, and centralized management. Moreover, they both support a variety of use cases and provide security services for cloud workloads. Fortinet also offers an extensive set of tools, such as the WildFire sandboxing option, which enables it to understand the flows and risks of a given application. Users and analysts highly rate both products.
However, they have different price points. Fortinet is more affordable, while Palo Alto Networks is more expensive. In NSS Labs evaluations, Fortinet was ranked as the best value firewall with a $2 total cost of ownership per protected Mbps, and it consistently scores well in MITRE endpoint and MSSP tests. While Fortinet offers hardware devices and virtual machines, its main focus is on a cloud-based model. The company’s unified platform simplifies security tasks and eliminates the need for manual processes. This reduces the risk of human error and increases security team productivity. It also reduces operational complexity and increases the likelihood of compliance with security standards. This is especially important for small businesses with limited resources. The company’s security architecture also makes it easier to manage complex data operations, such as backups and cloud migrations.
Features
The latest Palo Alto Networks NGFW appliances, such as the PA-5280 and PA-3200R, offer fast VPN speeds of up to 24 Gbps and are built for high throughput. These devices also feature a single-pass parallel processing architecture that delivers predictable throughput, even when security features are enabled. The company’s patented SP3 platform allows for a more thorough traffic inspection to protect against evasive and never-seen-before threats. The Palo Alto Networks NGFW is a comprehensive cybersecurity system that protects all networked applications and devices. Its unified platform lessens operational complexity and gives security teams the confidence to follow best practices and decrease human error. Its scalable architecture is designed for both cloud and on-premises environments. In addition to its NGFW, the company offers a range of other products that support its Security Fabric platform.
Regarding firewall comparison between Fortigate and PAN, Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks have several important features, including central management tools allowing automated network security policies. However, Fortinet has an edge in terms of ease of use. Its firewall tools are more intuitive and user-friendly, and the company’s interface is clean and simple. Palo Alto Networks has a more complex UI that may require some help to navigate and utilize. It also has a steep learning curve that requires some time to master. Despite this, the platform is still considered one of the top choices among small and medium-sized businesses for its robust security and advanced threat protection.
Performance
In terms of performance, Fortinet offers the fastest NGFWs in the industry. Its stream-based SP3 engine scans every bit of data for threats simultaneously, allowing it to identify malware and viruses in real time without slowing down system performance. This is especially important for large enterprises with a high volume of traffic. In addition, Fortinet’s anti-spam features are more efficient than those of competitors. Fortinet offers advanced security capabilities beyond basic firewalling, such as unified access control, advanced threat protection, and multi-cloud support. These features allow customers to protect themselves from various attacks and threats. Its WildFire sandboxing feature identifies and blocks malicious traffic before it can enter a network. In addition, the company’s FortiOS OS supports multiple deployment modes and various hardware options, including virtual devices.
The latest version of the Fortinet NGFW uses a unique ASIC architecture to deliver best-in-class performance for a lower price. Unlike other vendors, the Fortinet NGFW is designed to run on standard and high-performance hardware. This ensures maximum low-cost performance and provides the industry’s highest ROI. Palo Alto Networks offers various NGFW models for different deployment use cases. Its ML-powered NGFWs combine simplicity, automation, integration, and flexibility.
Moreover, its VM-Series virtual NGFWs can secure deployments in private clouds and SDN environments. The company also offers a variety of centralized management tools and security operations services. Its CN-Series containerized NGFWs safeguard traffic between containers in Kubernetes settings.
Integrations
As a leading security company, Fortinet offers a complete line of NGFWs. These appliances include physical, virtual, and cloud options. Their advanced features provide industry-leading performance and security. They also deliver unified network management, automation, and a user-friendly interface. Fortinet’s patented ASIC architecture provides high-speed performance at an affordable price. Fortinet’s NGFWs offer a wide range of features that help protect businesses from sophisticated attacks.
For example, a company could use an NGFW to prevent credential phishing by blocking access to external websites. It could also prevent users from downloading malware by analyzing the data they send over the internet. It would also protect its data centers from ransomware by detecting and blocking suspicious files. In addition to its NGFWs, Fortinet offers other solutions that can be used to secure the entire network. Its EDR product, FortiEDR, helps to identify and respond to threats before they infect endpoints.
In addition to identifying and stopping malware infestations, it also reduces the attack surface by automatically removing vulnerabilities. Fortinet’s NGFWs are well-suited for various applications, including remote offices, schools, and hospitals. They provide security for different operating systems, from legacy to modern hardware. Its unified platform allows businesses to scale as they grow. Its unified threat management (UTM) system can also integrate with other security products.
