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NetWitness Platform vs Netgate pfSense comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
314
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Netgate pfSense
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
202
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (1st)
NetWitness Platform
Average Rating
7.4
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (27th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (26th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Firewalls
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Syed Ali Waqas - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 29, 2024
Provides centralized management, enhanced visibility, and reduces cybersecurity risks
Fortinet FortiGate offers enhanced visibility and segmentation for our industrial devices, a crucial process when some machines utilize systems demanding high-level security. We have implemented Fortinet Security Fabric on our VM infrastructure, and it has provided great service in helping us meet regulations, governance, and compliance requirements. This is important to us because Fortinet Security Fabric connects to our sandbox, allowing us to scan shares across all clusters and enabling FortiGate to resolve any online issues. Fortinet FortiGate has enhanced our organization's security by enabling secure VPN access and restricting access to social media sites, thus ensuring that employees can focus on their work. We saw the benefits of FortiGate within weeks of the deployment. FortiGate helps reduce the risk of cyberattacks that could disrupt our production by isolating the affected traffic and creating a log for us. It also helps to centralize the management of our network and security operations. The centralized management allows us to access all of our firewalls and policies using a single interface. Fortinet provides actionable data to help us make informed decisions about the actions to take. For example, if one of our firewalls goes down, the solution helps us rectify the issue by providing details on the problem and how to address it. By consolidating the numerous individually connected batches, FortiGate helped us reduce operational expenses associated with the extra costs they incurred. Fortinet FortiGate has helped us mature our approach to cybersecurity for protecting our industrial equipment. Their knowledge and daily webinars on email security and virus prevention have empowered us to stop attacks and maximize our efficiency.
AT
Jul 10, 2024
Provides extensive customization and minimizes downtime
Installing packages on pfSense is straightforward, although the quality of package documentation varies. While I understand this isn't Netgate's responsibility, the installation and configuration process for these packages is remarkably user-friendly, relying almost entirely on the GUI. In my experience, I've rarely needed to resort to the command line, but I'm certainly not averse to it when necessary. I immediately recognized the advantages of pfSense. Its ability to support custom hardware installations allows me to tailor solutions to the specific needs of each branch location. While I've had excellent results with Netgate's pre-built hardware, the option to construct higher-specification systems myself, all while maintaining support, is incredibly valuable. The difference compared to our outdated SonicWall is night and day. I previously built a pfSense firewall on a Dell server for a business handling high traffic volumes, and its performance was exceptional. pfSense helps me prevent data loss by utilizing firewall aliases and other DNS-based filtration methods to block access to shadow IT and third-party cloud data transfer sites, providing some control over data movement. While pfSense doesn't offer a centralized overview of multiple firewalls, it provides extensive customization options for each firewall's homepage. This allows for detailed monitoring of VPN tunnels, interfaces, and other components. I appreciate the ability to add, remove, and customize widgets on the homepage for tailored information display. Helps minimize downtime. I have set up the high availability with one location, which works flawlessly. Provides visibility that enables us to make data-driven decisions about network capacity, including throughput and the ability to handle traffic. pfSense has significantly improved our performance by optimizing our always-on VPN. The recent release of the OpenVPN data channel offload feature, which was quickly adopted and supported by Netgate pfSense, has revolutionized our Windows laptop VPN solution. This new feature is nearly ten times faster than the previous OpenVPN without data channel offload, and its thorough documentation encouraged us to implement our always-on VPN ahead of schedule.
Salah Sabouni - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 8, 2023
Provides comprehensive network visibility, and has available helpful support
The initial setup is complex. It requires some knowledge in order to set it up. If one is the most difficult and ten is the easiest, I would rate it a three out of ten. It's quite complex. Initially, we need to prepare the hardware boxes, whether they are physical or virtual or offered as a service. This involves imaging them with the appropriate functions for the module. Then, for network packet capture, the mirror ports must be connected to the packet capture box. Regarding logs, the configuration process involves making NetWitness boxes communicate with each other through the appropriate protocols and ports. Following this, the next step involves configuring the log sources to send logs to the log box. This process requires the appropriate rules to be configured to initiate log transmission and generate metadata by appropriate parsers on NetWitness. After the setup, the focus shifts to building correlation rules, alerts, and other monitoring activities. These rules and alerts are crucial components for effective monitoring. The deployment process can vary based on the specific environment and requirements, but typically it takes about one to two weeks to complete. Maintaining the solution doesn't require a large number of resources. Typically, one or two capable resources are sufficient to maintain the solution effectively. It's important to continuously monitor and ensure the health and proper functioning of the solution. This involves regularly checking the log sources to ensure that the logs are being ingested correctly and there are no issues such as overutilization or spikes in network traffic.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Good anti-malware and web filtering features."
"It is user friendly, and has all the features you need."
"Anti-Spam web content filterinG."
"The pipe filter application is an outstanding feature."
"FortiGate has a strong security topic which allows all of the Fortinet devices to communicate and share information which makes their security more powerful."
"It's user-friendly and easy to operate."
"The license management is very valuable. You can get a new license each year, or you can enroll every two to four years. You can get the logs, and you will get the information on the risk in your network and the entire organization. With this information, you can take action on your actives, computers, or devices. You can bring your own device as an SSE."
"The application control features, such as Facebook blocking and Spotify blocking, are the most valuable."
"Users can manage everything under one single pane of glass."
"They're very affordable for what they offer."
"I have found pfSense to be stable."
"I appreciate pfSense's foundation on FreeBSD, which enables me to leverage additional FreeBSD packages for expanded functionality."
"pfSense stands out for its full features and adherence to industry standards."
"The built-in open VPN and the VPN Client Export are the solution's most valuable aspects."
"Improved service performance and availability through redundancy."
"I use pfSense because it gives me the flexibility to greatly expand basic firewall features."
"The most valuable features are the packet inspection and the automated incident response."
"The most valuable features are the integration and ease of use."
"It's fully scalable. There is no limit. Of course, the license limits per day the number of terabytes. In my opinion, it's very flexible."
"The most valuable features are its ingestion of logs and raising of alerts based on those logs."
"Possibility to investigate incidents based on logs and raw packets, such as extracting files sent over the network"
"The most valuable feature is the ability to write rules and triggers for network communication, and then being able to investigate based on that."
"The most valuable feature is the security that it provides."
"The product has a user-friendly interface and a valuable feature for threat intelligence integration."
 

Cons

"The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."
"I would like to see improvements in the product's application rules."
"It is stable, but its stability can be improved."
"It is very expensive, and their support is not very good. I hope that their technical support will be better in the future."
"The cloud management and automation capability could be improved."
"The solution could have licensing fees reduced in the future."
"In the future, I would like to see improvements made to cloud-based management."
"We were not able to build a full-mesh VPN; however, I am not sure if this was the fault of Fortinet FortiGate."
"More documentation would be great, especially on new features because sometimes, when new features come out, you don't get to understand them right off the bat. You have to really spend a lot of time understanding them. So, more documentation would be awesome."
"Network monitoring and device inventory could use some improvements. I'm using SpiceWorks for this because it never really worked in pfSense."
"Reporting and real-time monitoring, since I'm used to Watchguard's reporting features, it would be nice to have an embedded solution for reporting."
"While the software is great, they could work on improving the hardware."
"They could make it easier to configure packages."
"​Perhaps the documentation is not clear and because it is supported in the community there is no basic documentation."
"There must be a more easy-to-use GUI."
"The router monitoring needs improvement when compared with Sonicwall."
"They should implement algorithms to digest that data and produce additional, more advanced reporting, alerting and support of internal security teams."
"There are instances where you try to run the reports and then it does not give you the desired outcome."
"Its technical support could be better."
"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets can improve the threat level aspect, it is lacking compared to other solutions. Whenever any hacking activity or any other threat factor occurred they used to provide the coverages very fast when comparing RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets. I heard the other three solutions, from a discussion with my team members who had experience in other solutions, they used to say that. Whenever any issues happened across the globe RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets are a little bit slow improving those detection mechanisms."
"The user interface is a little bit difficult for new users and it needs to be improved."
"The initial setup is complex. There are other solutions that are easier to implement."
"The solution should have more integration capabilities with different platforms."
"Log aggregation is an issue with this solution because there are a huge number of alerts in a single instance."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price, in comparison to other products is very cheap."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate could improve, it is expensive."
"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."
"The license is yearly. We pay for the top end. It's called 360."
"The pricing for the product is alright."
"As far as I'm aware, in our case, it's just a yearly pricing arrangement with no additional licensing costs."
"It was worth the money overall. It's good value."
"There is a license to use Fortinet FortiGate."
"Netgate pfSense is a cost-effective option. If you're not using VPN, you can acquire a decent embedded PC for around a hundred dollars and install pfSense on it, effectively creating a robust firewall solution. With this setup, you can achieve a throughput of two hundred to three hundred megabits per second (Mbps) without any issues, provided you're handling relatively simple rules. The level of performance depends on the specific requirements and tasks."
"It is about €1,000. It is a one-time payment. I do not have a monthly or yearly subscription. I don't subscribe to any subscription because I hate cloud services. There are no additional costs."
"I would recommend it for a small business or a startup as a starting point. It's also good for companies that are on a tight budget."
"For what they charge for it, which is maybe $100 a year, it's still good. If you wanted to build your own router, pfSense is more than worth $100 a year to have all that flexibility and maybe your own piece of custom hardware that you want to run it on."
"This solution provides enterprise-level features at a fraction of the cost of an enterprise firewall."
"We are using the open-source version, not the commercial one."
"It is an open source firewall."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The tool is very expensive, so I rate the pricing a ten out of ten. The solution has an annual subscription."
"The product is expensive."
"The product price was reasonable for my region and the market."
"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets do not have a subscription model, it's a one-time purchase. There is only a perpetual license."
"Compared to the competition, the is price is not that high."
"The licenses are good but the cost is very expensive."
"It provides tools to assist in selecting the appropriate license and usage scenarios."
"We are on an annual license for the use of the solution."
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Comparison Review

VS
Feb 26, 2015
HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. ​McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm
We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
10%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
Help me find the best open source router
You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I reco...
How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?
Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigat...
What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?
Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and cl...
What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?
The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetWitness Platform?
The product price was reasonable for my region and the market.
What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?
From an improvement perspective, the NetWitness Platform needs to release new features and improve in areas like log ...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
No data available
RSA Security Analytics
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring
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