Fortinet’s FortiGate is known for offering a comprehensive set of features that distinguish it from many other firewalls. Keep in mind that features and capabilities of products might evolve over time, so we recommend checking Fortinet’s official website or the latest documentation for up-to-date information. Some features that FortiGate offers that are not commonly found in all firewalls include:
- Integrated Security Fabric: FortiGate is designed to be a part of Fortinet’s Security Fabric, which allows for seamless integration and communication between Fortinet’s various security products. This enables a more comprehensive and coordinated security strategy.
- Unified Threat Management (UTM): FortiGate is known for offering a broad range of security features in a single appliance, including firewall, intrusion prevention system (IPS), antivirus, web filtering, application control, and more. This consolidation simplifies network security management.
- FortiASICs: FortiGate utilizes custom-designed FortiASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) processors to accelerate specific security functions, which can enhance overall performance and reduce latency.
- SSL/TLS Inspection: FortiGate has the capability to decrypt and inspect encrypted traffic, allowing the firewall to apply security policies to encrypted connections, enhancing security without sacrificing performance.
- FortiGuard Services: Fortinet offers FortiGuard subscriptions that provide real-time threat intelligence, updates, and additional security services. These services include antivirus signatures, IPS updates, web filtering, and more.
- Advanced Threat Protection: FortiGate incorporates advanced threat protection features such as sandboxing, which isolates suspicious files to detect and analyze potential threats in a controlled environment.
- SD-WAN Integration: FortiGate supports Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) functionalities, allowing for dynamic and efficient traffic routing across multiple WAN links based on application requirements and network conditions.
- Virtual Domains (VDOMs): FortiGate allows network administrators to create multiple virtual firewalls within a single physical device. This enables segmentation and isolation of different network environments.
- Security-driven Networking: FortiGate emphasizes the concept of “security-driven networking,” which integrates security policies directly into the network architecture to enforce consistent protection across the entire infrastructure.
- Centralized Management: FortiGate offers FortiManager, a centralized management platform that simplifies the deployment, configuration, monitoring, and reporting of multiple FortiGate devices from a single interface.
It’s important to note that the specific features and capabilities of FortiGate might vary depending on the model and firmware version. Therefore, for the most accurate and up-to-date information, we recommend consulting Fortinet’s official documentation or contacting our sales team to have a more in-depth conversation.