


SonicWall NSa and SonicWall NSv are two security solutions with distinct features, pricing, and ease of deployment. SonicWall NSa seems to appeal to users preferring physical appliances, while SonicWall NSv is favored for virtualized environments.
Features: SonicWall NSa is praised for its robust hardware performance, comprehensive security features, and secure SD-WAN. SonicWall NSv receives high marks for its flexibility in cloud environments, scalability, and adaptability to virtual settings.
Room for Improvement: SonicWall NSa users often cite the need for better reporting tools, easier firmware upgrades, and more intuitive management options. SonicWall NSv reviews suggest improvements in the initial setup process, more intuitive management options, and enhanced user management experience.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall NSa users report a straightforward deployment process but note long setup times due to configuration complexity. Customer service is generally well-regarded. For SonicWall NSv, deployment is quick and efficient, yet some users mention the learning curve associated with virtual environments. Customer service is also positively reviewed, with quick response times.
Pricing and ROI: SonicWall NSa is noted for its higher initial setup cost, but users feel the investment is justified by its long-term reliability and performance. SonicWall NSv presents a more cost-effective solution due to lower setup costs for virtual environments and offers good ROI through its scalability.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Investment was challenging but strategic, given its advantages like 30% depreciation in the Indian ecosystem by the third year.
The relevant metric includes the time saved in deployment, especially if you go with Classic Mode over Policy Mode.
They offer very accurate solutions.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
The support from SonicWall was excellent.
SonicWall support is very helpful and responsive.
I would rate the responsiveness of the technical support from SonicWall as 9 to 10.
With the number of items that SonicWall has going on at the moment, the wait line can be quite intrusive.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
I would rate its scalability around eight out of ten, meaning there are no issues, and it is pretty easy to scale.
Regarding scalability, it's important to ascertain the customer's future requirements, as firewalls need to be sized according to their expected scalability, such as moving from 500 users today to more in the coming years.
Nonetheless, the product is robust, eliminating major scalability concerns.
On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate its scalability as eight to nine.
You can operate multiple different NSvs under one management plane.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
The stability of SonicWall NSA is quite good.
Understanding and handling these devices onsite was limited, requiring external support.
It rates around eight to nine in terms of stability, and it is quite good.
I would say that SonicWall NSv has been stable and we did not have any headache or any bad experience with SonicWall NSv compared to other products, such as Palo Alto, because we had a tough time handling Palo Alto.
Investing in a solution that can accommodate such growth would be more cost-effective than repeatedly purchasing new hardware.
While Fortinet claims to offer a comprehensive network solution, it falls short in addressing computer application issues, particularly server security.
When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.
More details in the analytical tools offered would be appreciated since it is not yet mature.
There are some aspects of the dashboard configuration or customization that could be improved.
When the software was downloaded, optimal hardware utilization was lacking, making hardware upgrades inevitable.
Currently, we are getting challenges with user-wise reports and other reporting details.
SonicWall NSv can be improved, particularly in the SAML implementation, which was introduced in 7.2 firmware.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
It is about 20% cheaper.
SonicWall is much cheaper compared to Fortinet, particularly regarding renewal and licensing costs.
I would rate the price of the product as seven out of ten.
The Global VPN will be chargeable in our product, unlike Fortinet or Sophos, where it is free—this is a major difference.
SonicWall NSv was a bit expensive for the subscription.
In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable.
FortiGate has helped reduce the risk of cyberattacks that might disrupt our client's production.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
Real-time deep memory inspection is very helpful and has had a positive impact on our security posture.
SonicWall NSA's most valuable features are its SD-WAN and a system RTBI that blocks all attacks.
SonicWall excelled in threat management, evident in how users handled it effectively.
The features of SonicWall NSv that are most effective in enhancing the network include the Application Firewall, which provides enhanced security to the client.
I am not limited to the global security service configuration and can have multiple different security policies.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Fortinet FortiGate | 19.9% |
| SonicWall NSa | 1.7% |
| SonicWall NSv | 0.2% |
| Other | 78.2% |



| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 350 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 130 |
| Large Enterprise | 187 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 54 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 21 |
| Large Enterprise | 24 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 6 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Large Enterprise | 3 |
Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.
Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.
What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.
SonicWall NSa dispenses advanced threat protection using a high-performance security platform. The NSa series implements intuitive deep learning technologies in the SonicWall Capture Cloud Platform to dispatch the automated real-time threat detection and deterrence enterprise organizations need today. SonicWall Network Security appliance (NSa) series is best for mid-sized organizations to distributed enterprises and data centers.
SonicWall NSa series next-generation firewalls (NFGWS) combine two very robust security ideologies to deliver advanced threat protection to keep users’ networks safe. Boosting SonicWall’s multi-engine advanced threat protection (ATP) is their Real-time Deep Memory Inspection (RTDMI™). The RTDMI intuitively identifies and stops aggressive zero-day threats and vicious malware by investigating memory directly. This real-time process allows SonicWall RTDMI to be accurate, lessen false positives and discover and alleviate malicious threats and attacks. SonicWall’s single-pass Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI) will audit every byte of each and every packet by investigating both outbound and inbound traffic on the firewall. By combining the SonicWall Capture Cloud Platform along with on-box offerings such as intrusion prevention, web/URL filtering, and anti-malware, the NSa series is able to block the most malicious and dangerous threats at the gateway.
Additionally, SonicWall firewalls supply absolute protection by executing complete inspection and decryption of SSH and TLS/SSL encryption connections - no matter the port or protocol. The firewall takes a deep dive into each and every packet (the header and data) routing out any anomalies, zero-day intrusions, threats, and protocol non-compliance. Users can also define unique criteria specific to their organization to ensure their networks remain safe. This aggressive deep packet inspection is able to identify and block malicious attacks, stop dangerous malware downloads, prevent the spread of infections, and defeat command and control (C&C) communications and data exfiltration. Protocols involving inclusion and exclusion allow users complete control to decide, based on specific governance policies, organizational policies, or government or legal compliance, which traffic is to be investigated for decryption or inspection.
SonicWall Nsa offers enterprise organizations the network control and fluid flexibility they desire using an intrusion prevention system (IPS), VPN, real-time visualization, and other advanced powerful security features, making it a popular firewall solution in today's marketplace.
Reviews from Real Users
“The features that I have found most valuable are the firewalling, which is very good, and the GUI which is very intuitive. It is easy to use and provides great security.” - Network Engineer at a maritime company
“What's valuable in SonicWall NSa is the ATP (advanced threat protection). It can protect users from malicious links. SonicWall NSa also has a Sandboxing service that is very helpful for us, especially when end users accidentally click on malicious links. Another valuable feature of this solution is that it is very useful for site-to-site VPN connectivity issues. SonicWall NSa has very good hardware. I also love that SonicWall has very good technical support, who are very knowledgeable, provide good suggestions, and they're easy to reach.” - Mohammed M., Network Administrator at Transgulf Readymix
SonicWall NSV is a software-based virtual firewall that provides additional security for customers with public-facing servers or services on Microsoft Azure. The AGSS Bundle is considered the most valuable feature, providing security services such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI.
Additionally, customization of firewall rules provides great value to customers, allowing them to lock things up in the way they desire. SonicWall NSV offers extensive security control options to protect customers' valuable information and assets.
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