I evaluated both for a multi-site environment, and eventually chose FortiGate, based on the centralized management and reputation of Fortinet. Eventually we plan to move to FortiSwitches and maybe even Fortinet access points, so it makes sense to use Fortimanager to manage…

We just bought a FortiGate 70F for 30 people and 100 devices. So far it seems very good. But it is quite a steep learning curve, and it makes more sense if you already have Fortinet devices in your network If you want a simple setup and cloud managed try Meraki, the license…

We've been using Sophos UTM at a similar-sized school for the past 5 years, and it's been very good. But now they are stopping UTM development, so we looked at Sophos XG and Fortigate. Fortigate was slightly cheaper than Sophos (depends on your reseller of course). If you're…

Cisco makes enterprise switches at enterprise prices. Their pricing model means the reseller makes 60-80% profit on the switches they sell, and you can't get competitive quotes from vendors because Cisco makes you choose one supplier and get all the quotes from them. Cisco…

@JoelGaari Sorry, I don't agree with this. We use it where wifi is critical, and it performs very well.

We use UniFi WiFi in 4 schools, around 280 access points in total, with a single controller in the cloud. There are very few issues with Unifi equipment. It is much better and cheaper than what we had previously. It just works! I would recommend it to small/medium…

Yes, we are aware the licenses are interchangeable, but having to buy new hardware to fix a problem with MR34 that Meraki can't fix themselves is not an option. Cisco partner quoted us an obscene amount to replace MR34 with MR54, and then the license only goes for another 2…

We use both: on-premise backup for short-term, fast access to data. Cloud-hosted for long-term, cold storage, and to create an off-site backup Advantage of on-premise is quick, fast access to data. Disadvantage is you have to manage and pay for the hardware yourself.…

That's like asking, "what's the best car on the market?", there is no easy answer.  You need to look at your requirements, performance, budget, etc. Different companies target different market segments, find the company that does well in your segment. 

Had so many problems with Meraki in the past 5 years. I wouldn't recommend them to anybody. The last problem was intermittent problems connecting to an SSID, the helpdesk answer was: "make the password less complex". It was passw0rd Roaming always seems to break whenever…

Larger networks benefit from stack switching, in order to manage the stack from a single IP address and to reduce the number of uplinks needed to a central hub.  Therefore, it's more efficient to have a stack rather than several loose switches Smaller networks (where there…

Sophos UTM is no longer being developed, according to our reseller. All the development effort is going into XG. So XG will be the only Sophos firewall going forward, UTM will eventually be end of life.

No, i've been working it IT for 20 years and never seen a fire in a server room (yet). However I have seen a flood when there was a particularly heavy rainstorm that flooded the car park and then made its way into the basement of the office block. The rain was so heavy it…

"No, you need to update the firmware first." Sometimes it's difficult to get the right balance. I had a PowerEdge 950 that wouldn't boot, called Dell and they recommended replacing the motherboard. In the end I managed to do all the firmware, DRAC, BIOS and other updates…

NAS: cheaper, slower to access, easier to manage SAN: more expensive, fast access, needs specialist management skillset. SAN is generally used when you need lots of storage close to computing power. NAS when you need storage shared by networked users.

Question is, who will manage the devices? If you don't have a full-time staff member to look after your network, choose un-managed. You need someone with the skillset and time to look after managed switches.

Do you mean Virtual Desktop Infrastructure? If so, then it has no relation to flash storage. VDI can work on any storage. But it will be faster using flash storage.

No issues in the past year.

My understanding is that UTM is the software; SG is the hardware. You can buy Sophos UTM running on SG hardware and then later upgrade to the XG running on the same hardware.

I've been told by our Sophos reseller that Sophos are pushing the XG as next generation firewall, and developing it to at least as good as UTM. So XG will be the firewall of choice moving forward. UTM will not be developed further, according to him.