Fortinet FortiOS Reviews

Our primary use case for this solution is for deploying network security systems for SMBs or mid-range corporations.

We use the SSL VPN web portal and we actually find it very useful because we don't need to bother with installing additional client-side software.

The most valuable part of the application is the graphic user interface of the application where you can see specifically what's going on in the system at a glance and quickly assess the system. The GUI is very good.

One thing that should be improved in future versions is an issue we have observed and had problems with a few times. When we try to reinstall a backup for FortiOS, you need to do a factory reset manually or you lose access to a device. I have experienced this situation a few times and it seems like something that should not be required and they should resolve.

I think the product is a pretty stable solution. I did have some cases with the webserver where the appliance actually crashed. Later I research about the issue and I found out that it was actually a bug in the latest version. I imagine that because they know they will issue a fix if they have not already.

I recommend this product to my clients partly because of the scalability. Scaling is never really a problem though it may cost more if the client requires additional licensing or hardware.

I don't often have to contact support. When I do I usually just get help from the online community. I really don't contact their support directly.

I go about initial setup by just implementing the configuration using CLI (Command Line Interface) to propagate the components. I think the initial setup is straightforward.

We are the consultants and we do the installations.

I think the cost of the product categorizes FortiOS because it is a bit more expensive than small businesses will usually want to spend. It is not really practical for SMB or for small businesses. It is mostly for mid-range or higher SMBs because of the pricing. It is not expensive compared to some products, but a small business may not justify the cost. The cost ends up being dependent on the solution you choose and if you want individual or package licensing.

As consultants, we provide different customers with different solutions based on what they need. So, there is no specific product that we evaluate as there are always several options. Mainly I use Fortinet or Sophos solutions to recommend to my customers. We will use on-premises or cloud depending on the needs and how it fits for the client. For Fortinet FortiOS we usually use it in on-premises installations.

I do recommend this product to clients for use but it depends on their case needs. For example, in the AAA (Authentication Authorization and Accounting) some of the accounting and some of the VPN tunneling features are removed from Fortinet FortiOS due to some security configurations. In some projects, we need those features for the client and when that is the case, I cannot recommend that the client use the FortiOS solution.

It would be a better product if there were a logging feature. You need to have FortiAnalyzer in your installation to have logging management capabilities. It will be a better solution if some logging and history capabilities were integrated without requiring an additional product installation.

On a scale from one to ten, where one is the worst and 10 is the best, I would rate Fortinet FortiOS a seven. It is a good product but there are a few problems.

I am a consultant, and I have worked with solutions from many different vendors. Depending on what the customer wants, we help to select the solution. This is one of the solutions that I have serviced in a client environment.

All of the features in this solution are effective and efficient. They are dependent on the environment in the organization.

The policies and the way that they are applied can be improved. It could be more direct, as it is an issue for some people. Generally, policy management could be made better and simpler to deploy.

The GUI could be improved to make it more usable, easier to administer, and easier to configure. 

I think it's a stable solution.

We have been deploying this solution in small and medium-sized environments, with no more than fifty users, and it has always been effective.

I don't think that we have had any issues with technical support for this solution.

The difficulty of the initial setup depends on who is handling it. Definitely, there are challenges, but if you have a proper understanding of what you're supposed to do, then it is straightforward to work with.

For me, I think that the physical box is more straightforward to work with, but it depends on who is doing it. If you get your architecture right then it is a pretty straightforward deployment. If you don't, then you run into issues that you will need to troubleshoot.

For my requirements and expectations, I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the ease of use and user-friendly interface.

Some features I have found to be hidden and cannot be accessed through the graphical user interface, you can only access them through the command-line interface(CLI). All the features should be accessible through the graphical user interface.

I have been using Fortinet FortiOS for approximately four years.

Fortinet FortiOS is a stable solution and it has high performance.

The scalability depends on the cloud provider of Fortinet FortiOS, such as Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure. They need to work according to their SLA.

The deployment of Fortinet FortiOS is simple. The speed of the deployment depends on a lot of factors, such as a number of policies, features we need to enable, and security specifications.

I do the deployment of Fortinet FortiOS and since it is on the cloud there is no maintenance. 

The price of Fortinet FortiOS is reasonable and it is paid annually. You are able to select the features that you want.

I rate Fortinet FortiOS a nine out of ten.

I was working at a bank where internal information security was strict, so I needed to block a lot of websites in Fortinet. For example, we needed to block Gmail, WhatsApp Web, porn, and violent content. 

FortiOS allows us to set up alarms for blocked websites and SSL verifications. When someone tries to access a blocked site, the solution sends a notification to the IT manager's mailbox.

The user interface is easy to use. Fortinet has high availability features, so you can have an active and hot standby box. We can have two boxes in Rio and two in São Paulo. When a box crashes, we can transfer all the operations to the second box. 

FortiOS tells you exactly what is happening in the first box, so you can quickly understand what went wrong and troubleshoot. Users rarely notice an impact on the daily operations. 

FortiOS could provide a more detailed analysis of the network and connected devices.

I used Fortinet for about nine months.

We have a support contract with a third-party company, but Fortinet provides the licenses, so we update the solution ourselves using the license code. 

I rate Fortinet FortiOS nine out of 10.

We use Fortinet FortiOS to control all the security and networking capabilities in all our FortiGates devices across our entire network.

Firewall and overall management are valuable features. They are a leader in the market.

The reporting and monitoring could improve, they have a lot of limitations. The monitoring is not easy compared to the other firewall.

I have been using this solution within the past 12 months.

The solution is stable.

I have used Palo Alto solutions.

I rate Fortinet FortiOS a nine out of ten.

The solution's most valuable feature is its ability to work efficiently with large-scale firewall deployments. Also, it provides custom segmentation for the firewall without adding any additional devices. It helps in reducing the cost of testing purposes.

The solution's firmware updates have significant bugs and issues. They affect the network and firewall. This particular area needs improvement. Also, they should include an advanced firewall feature.

I have been using the solution for two years.

I rate the solution's stability as seven.

I rate the solution's scalability a seven. The major bugs in the firmware update affect the scaling capabilities as well.

The solution's initial setup process is easy.

I rate the solution as a seven out of ten.

We are consultant architects so our role is to set up firewalls for our customers, who are usually small and medium-sized companies. 

I like that the firewall gives me a lot of control in terms of outgoing and inbound traffic, and it scores better in deep packet inspections when compared with the Azure Firewall.

The support could be improved, Fortinet's response time is very slow. 

Setting up the VPN could be made much easier, especially when deployed with Azure.

I have been using the solution for a year now.

The product is pretty stable.

The solution is scalable.

The initial setup of this solution is relatively easy.

The pricing could always be lower.

If I'm going with Azure data center, my first recommendation would always be Azure Firewall with the newly launched premium services. Otherwise, Fortinet is pretty good.

I rate this solution an eight out of ten. I advise users to go through the documentation very thoroughly as it's not the same as your on-premises Fortinet Power. It's slightly different. Setting up the VPN is a bit tricky in Azure, deploying the Fortinet firewall and Azure is somewhat tricky.

Fortinet FortiOS is the operating system(OS) for the appliance to work.

The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the granular control and their interoperability is good.

Fortinet FortiOS can improve the GUI and remove the command line interface. All the functionality should be available from the GUI. Day-to-day management can be tough for IT administrators. Additionally, the reporting is not very good.

I have been using Fortinet FortiOS for approximately 10 years.

I have not used support very often. I have been able to figure out the problems myself.

I have used other solutions, such as SonicWall. I have found SonicWall's GUI to be less complicated than Fortinet FortiOS.

If I have to implement through the Fortinet FortiOS I have to go through multiple screens. For example, if I need to configure a simple VPN, and a site-to-site Sec VPN channel, in Fortinet FortiOS, I may have to go through multiple GUI pages or screens. Whereas, in SonicWall, everything can be done on one page.

When comparing the ease of configuration and management, with SonicWall, I find Fortigate needs some improvement. If it was improved it would make it a lot easier for implementers.

I recommend this solution to others.

I rate Fortinet FortiOS an eight out of ten because the reporting, configuration, and management for the IT administrators could improve.