Fortinet FortiGate-VM Reviews

We use FortiGate-VM to access clients' networks. These are generally Azure cloud environments in which we set up resources for clients to use.

The most valuable FortiGate-VM features are the ease of use and setup. 

Sometimes, FortiGate-VM is a little different to set up than other firewalls that I've managed. It would be better if it was just a little more mainstream. Some more documentation would be nice as well. Documentation has always kind of been our problem with FortiGate-VM. 

There's a lot of stuff I like about FortiGate-VM, but like I said, we still do a lot more Palo Alto firewalls than anything because they have true layer-seven attack prevention. FortiGate-VM does have that too, but it doesn't work as well. I would like to see more layer-seven functionality and expect to realistically block things at the top level.

We have been using this solution for two years. 

FortiGate-VM is stable. They have been okay for everything that I have done with them.

I have worked on some of the largest and smallest solutions that Fortinet sells and they all scale really well.

The initial setup is straightforward and only takes hours to deploy. 

We implemented FortiGate-VM in-house. 

Make sure that you're on the latest stable versions when you update code and stuff like that. That's one of the things that we've had some issues with in the past. 

We use FortiGate as an edge security device. We are system integrators and we use this product ourselves, as well as implement it for our clients.

The geofencing and blocking capabilities for all non-domestic countries lower the attack surface by approximately 85%.

The most valuable feature is geofencing, where we can block all access from all non-domestic locations.

In the next releases, it would be nice to see central cloud management.

They have an on-premises solution that you can deploy for fleet management or for multiple site management, but it seems like a cloud solution would be a little bit easier.

We have been using FortiGate for the past two years.

We are using the latest version.

This is a very stable solution.

So far, this product has scaled very well. We have approximately 100 deployed, as edge devices. Currently, it is our only edge device and we plan to continue rolling it out in the future.

Their technical support is great.

We used Cisco ASAs exclusively before changing exclusively to FortiGate.

We decided to change to FortiGate because the entitlement was too difficult on Cisco.

The initial setup is straightforward and it takes approximately two hours to deploy.

Licensing is pretty standard. It's approximately 15% of the total cost per year as a subscription cost.

The subscription cost also includes support for entitlement, which was not the case with Cisco. That was the deciding factor. We changed our whole install base because of that.

There are no additional costs other than the standard licensing fees.

I would recommend stopping waiting to use Fortinet Fortigate. It's really a great solution and their support is very good. SonicWall has awful support. I can't say more strongly how bad SonicWall has ever been.

With the engineers, everything is difficult to phrase. They don't understand what you're trying to do. They should understand. Their first-level support is terrible. They really don't understand. You can't get to the next level without going through level one. 

Level one is terrible. It's frustrating enough that we just do it ourselves with Google articles because of this.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Most of the use cases that we have are SD-WAN and perimeter firewall related.

Our clients are mostly small to medium-sized businesses. We also have large enterprise clients that range from 1,000 to 8,000 users. We haven't planned to increase the usage, but we are currently using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for perimeter firewalls and SD-WAN for our branch offices.

FortiGate-VM is easier to deploy than physical solutions that require you to have an RNE as then you need to wait a couple of days or months for another physical appliance to be delivered. With VM, if we already have available servers in the network, we can just deploy FortiGate.

With FortiGate, we sometimes encounter bugs in various operating systems. Also, sometimes the security policies are hard to apply specifically when it comes to web filtering.

We've been using FortiGate-VM from the moment I began in my company. So that was two years ago.

This solution is very stable.

The technical support for FortiGate-VM is the same for the physical VM — they're very responsive. 

The initial setup is very user-friendly.

For FortiGate-VM, we mostly have UTP Bundle. MA is for three to five years, but we just discovered that VM is cheaper; we found that it actually costs more than a physical appliance excluding the servers for the platform.

Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of eight.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is used as a firewall for multiple servers.

Price is okay and can be considered in the middle range, provided we compare it with other solutions. So, the solution can be made cheaper.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM should have a public forum where engineers can ask and answer questions. This would make it easy for anyone to search for incidents and find solutions quickly without needing to ask for support. The forum should contain a lot of information to help users troubleshoot issues on their own.

The solution's support can be considered a bit slow since it takes some time to resolve issues. So, support needs to be improved.

Sizing can be challenging for customers interested in using Fortinet FortiGate-VM. They often ask for guidance on how to size the virtual machine for their needs properly.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for three years. Also, my company is an integrator for the solution, and I am using its first version since we did not have to update it.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

I never had any problem with the solution's scalability. The solution's final customer can comment on its scalability.

In general, its scalability is good. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

The technical support is okay. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten. Sometimes we need to find information quickly, and it can take time to open a ticket and go through the procedures of providing logs. But the support team is good. However, if we compare it to open-source solutions, developers can find information quickly over platforms like Slack. Network or site engineers need to open a ticket, and some of these tickets are not open-source. If we compare it to development engineers who can find answers quickly by searching on Google, there is a difference in the speed of finding solutions.

Positive

I don't have experience working with solutions deployed on the cloud, but I have experience with products deployed on-premises, like Veeam, which was deployed on the server, and VMware. I have worked with Palo Alto, which is a complicated solution.

The solution's initial setup process was very easy. The solution was deployed on the private cloud. The deployment process can be carried out in two weeks, and only three engineers are required. Maintenance can be carried out efficiently.

On a scale of one to ten, where ten is very expensive, I rate the solution around two or three. I think the solution's prices are okay, considering the services and features they offer.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is easy to test due to the available videos and QuickBooks with a lot of information. The solution is presented simply and is more robust in security compared to Palo Alto, which is complicated. For our team, Fortinet FortiGate-VM is the best choice as information is easily available on the internet, and it is open source. Unlike other solutions, we can find everything on how to deploy, manage, and support it. Moreover, we were provided Fortinet FortiGate-VM for free, which helped us develop our skills quickly.

It is a stable and good solution. Those planning to use the solution should go through Fortinet FortiGate-VM's guide and prepare for the integration while having a good design and good view. Also, it is important to plan deployment steps since step-by-step deployment of the solution is needed to avoid any problems. I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten.

The version I am using, 6.2.8., is not the latest. It's a somewhat older version and has not yet been upgraded. 

We have configured our use cases to be those of a banking environment. We have enabled the use of the firewall solution for our 300 branches. 

The solution has pretty awesome features. It supports at least 300 of our branches. We have yet to come across any issues concerning the 300 branches we have configured, a high number which equates many connections. This means that the solution can handle that much traffic. This is a feature of the firewall that we appreciate, as well as that of antivirus. In spite of the solution being inexpensive, it has everything one would need. 

There are certain GUI features that should be present but are not, although these we can address through the command-line interface. We have to make use of this to create certain policies or change the interface layer. These configuration restrictions should be addressed. 

Moreover, the reporting should be upgraded, as there are only a small number of reports available. We also encounter issues on the logging pages. GUI does not allow for live logging and the command-line interface must be used in its stead. The need to rely on CLI should be done away with entirely. 

While we consider the solution to be user-friendly, certain improvements should be made in this respect. 

I have been using Fortinet Fortigate-VM for the past two years. 

The solution is extremely reliable. As mentioned, it is being used in 300 branches and no issues have arisen.

The solution is scalable, although I have not attempted to undertake further plugins or additions. 

We have had no issues with the technical support. We have found them to be good, very knowledgeable and helpful. 

Other solutions I have used in the past include Check Point and Palo Alto.

The initial setup is straightforward, although the configurations can occasionally become involved. 

At present, the SD-WAN licenses are on an annual basis. 

We have no specific complaints about the licensing prices. 

I am on the implementation team, meaning that we configure the firewalls for our customers, mostly consisting of the BFSI banks and accounting for 2,000 people who make use of the solution. 

I cannot proffer advice to others who are considering implementation of the solution. All I can say is that it is straightforward and simple, only requiring configuration. 

I rate Fortinet Fortigate-VM as a seven out of ten.

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 are a reseller of FortiGate, but also a customer. I have configured it in my office. Our primary case use includes equipment installed with customers.

We have Fabric Security that integrates with other FortiGate family products like firewalls and switches. This means that we don't need to buy other licenses and it's easy to configure.

With every new version, there are issues and new parts due to the improvements. But the improvements are not always easy for the customer, especially when making a big configuration. Rather than being an improvement, it becomes more complicated.

We have been using FortiGate for almost 12 years.

The support is fine now, however, our last purchase was not as good. They have changed their situation and improved support again.

I had used Sophos UTM, the Endpoints, Access Points, and XG for two years in my office. We switched because of FortiGate's service and because it is a more flexible solution.

Installation does not require another license so it is inexpensive and easy to configure. 

Sophos has a nice interface and is easy to configure. The XG products are good and so are the endpoints. Sophos access points and on-premise are not good.  Sophos also doesn't have enough support to get into the console. Sophos has a Linux box, which is easy to try to resolve most issues, but Sophos support is not good.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is easy to use.

The performance could be better. Some features need to have quality control when the switch is working. The dedicated bandwidth for some users is not reliable.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for approximately one year.

I have found Fortinet FortiGate-VM to be stable.

We have approximately 150 people using the solution.

The technical support could improve. They took approximately one month to solve a firewire issue to update. I would not recommend it.

I have used Sophos previously and I could it to be better. However, we have found the performance to be the same as Fortinet FortiGate-VM.

The company that provided the solution that was installing it took approximately three days.

I can do the implementation by myself. I do the maintenance and support of the solution.

There is an annual license required to use the solution.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM a seven out of ten.