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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    FortiGate

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AFortiNet FortiGate is a firewall option with high integrability. It offers a variety of deployment options and next-gen firewall capabilities, including integration with IaaS cloud platforms and public cloud environments.N/A

    Windows Server

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AN/AN/A
    Pricing
    FortiGateWindows Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FortiGateWindows Server
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsFortiGate pricing starts at $250 for home office use, up to $300,000 for large enterprise appliances. Must contact sales team for pricing.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    FortiGateWindows Server
    Considered Both Products
    Fortinet
    Chose FortiGate
    Great subscription services and easy branch office VPN configuration. Also a big plus for 2FA via Forti Token integration.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    FortiGates are more professional and offer a robust command line.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    FortiGate has a strong offering at a very competitive price point. I like that with your subscription you get access to all of the pieces, and that features aren't arbitrarily turned off unless you buy a specific license or bundle. For what you get for the price, it's really …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    My main experience with competitors is with Check Point. Though on first look Check Point is cheaper, really if you compare correctly using the real-time throughput available to both you will see that Fortinet Fortigate will usually cover you with a lower level device which …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    When you talk about firewalling, the competitors are the usual big names (Cisco and Check Point). Both of them are (in my opinion) more costly and more complex to manage. If we talk about other security threats, as I said, having one device able to do (almost) everything is a …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Windows Server
    We have various servers or appliances that run on various flavors of Linux that do their jobs well, but we configure and manage them very lightly at the OS level. Most of the admin on these devices is sone inside the applications themselves. We don't shy away from new …
    Incentivized
    Chose Windows Server
    We were comparing Windows Server with Hyper-V to VMware ESXi, and decided on Windows Server as we are primarily a Windows server/workstation shop, and the familiarity allowed us to spin up new Hyper-V servers quickly without much additional training required. We also have a …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    49 Answers
    98%
    Would buy again
    44 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    48 Answers
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    42 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    49 Answers
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    44 Answers
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    38 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    47 Answers
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    42 Answers
    Features
    FortiGateWindows Server
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Fortinet FortiGate and Windows Server
    Feature
    Fortinet FortiGate
    8.7
    53 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Windows Server
    -
    Ratings
    Identification Technologies8.951 Ratings00 Ratings
    Visualization Tools8.351 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Inspection8.852 Ratings00 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls8.953 Ratings00 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP8.750 Ratings00 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console7.752 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging8.353 Ratings00 Ratings
    VPN9.152 Ratings00 Ratings
    High Availability9.348 Ratings00 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection9.251 Ratings00 Ratings
    Proxy Server8.539 Ratings00 Ratings
    Operating System
    Comparison of Operating System features of Fortinet FortiGate and Windows Server
    Feature
    Fortinet FortiGate
    -
    Ratings
    Windows Server
    7.8
    5 Ratings
    11% below category average
    File Management00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Software Application Management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    System Update Frequency00 Ratings6.65 Ratings
    Operating System Security00 Ratings7.65 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    FortiGateWindows Server
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.3 out of 10
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.6 out of 10
    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FortiGateWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (79 ratings)
    9.2
    (68 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (5 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    8.7
    (21 ratings)
    9.2
    (12 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (27 ratings)
    6.4
    (19 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    5.0
    (5 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FortiGateWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Fortinet
    Fortinet FortiGate addressed an immediate security issue we had a few years ago. The device gave us a much clearer picture of the activities on our network and also more importantly, increased our awareness of threats from the internet as a whole. Fortinet FortiGate helps us to mitigate these threats with regular signature updates from Fortiguard labs, identifying certain characteristics which, once recognised by Fortinet FortiGate, can be harnessed to deploy powerful 'playbooks'.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Windows Server and Active Directory is very robust and stable, it has been a staple in every IT environment I have worked in during my career. Junior to Intermediate admins can learn Windows Server easily, the user interfaces make administration tasks very easy as well as the documentation available through a vast amount of resources. There are other Operating Systems available with no GUI which has a smaller attack surface, faster update installation and reboot time. Windows Server does have the ability to remove the desktop experience, however it is not something I have had experience with and I believe most administrators choose not to remove it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Fortinet
    • SD-WAN - Load balancing of Internet traffic is a USP of Fortigate and makes it stand tall in the competition. Be it 3 or more Internet Links, multiple Subnets/segments of users to distribute and bandwidth load balancing for links and users. SLA based monitoring of Internet Links / MPLS links, makes it even better to choose the links on the basis of performance (Latency, packet loss, Jitter etc).
    • SSL VPN configuration - As we all have WFH force (to some extend or all employee) during Covid-19, it is impossible to plan BCP without having a SSL VPN. In Fortigate, the SSL VPN configuration is very easy with the help of wizard. The deep CLI-level debugging is also very helpful in troubleshooting. Type of tunnel can be easily configured - Full Tunnel or Split Tunnel for SSL.
    • Explicit Proxy - This is also a great feature to shape and re-route the traffic, configuring the Proxy on the Firewall itself. We are using this feature in Pilot for now, and planned to rollout in few weeks looking at the success rate of the POC.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Backup of workstations & itself - reliably, consistently, with Bare-Metal Restore and deduplication
    • File management and Security on a per file/folder/user basis is simple and fully done through an easy GUI
    • DNS, DHCP server functions are easy to configure using the built-in GUI
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Fortinet
    • Documentation is missing a great deal of detail and assumes the customer and just guess and fill in the blanks themselves
    • Fortinet has lots and lots of video guides on topics that only a small percentage of customers would ever need
    • The documentation and video guides do not get updated so most is only relevant to older software versions
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft needs to minimize the update frequency by making the product more secure. It can become very exhausting trying to keep updated if you don't have a dedicated support team. It can become challenging where the business is unable to allow downtime for reboots as part of the update process.
    • Prone to security and audit vulnerabilities.
    • The operating system needs more CPU and memory resources compared to other options such as Linux.
    • Understanding the licensing model can be abit confusing.
    • Comes with a standard firewall, but not the most secured one available. Would suggest using a more secured firewall as part of your antivirus software.
    • Due to the number of vulnerabilities and the operating system being a target for hackers, anti-virus software is a must.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Fortinet
    Fortinet's products have kept improving with new software releases and they continue to deliver great value. Their support is also very good. I believe that as a small enterprise, their products have given us competitive advantage delivering features and functionality that enable us to innovate and do things better. They also continue to be a leader in the markets they serve.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    I've carefully reviewed the servers and services currently running on Windows Server 2012, and given the opportunity would renew them as is going forward. There are two systems I currently have in place, one is a very large Linux implementation for a large ecommerce site, and one is a very large backup solution front ended by FTP servers running Linux. Neither are well suited for Windows, but the overall network infrastructure is and will be Windows Server for the foreseeable future.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Fortinet
    The firewall runs very well, firmware updates are fairly quick but you must follow the upgrade path. Neglecting this step will cause a lot of pain. If you decide to go with Fortinet FortiGate switches and/or access points, they can be managed within the firewall which is great. We're also using the FortiAnalyzer which easily plugs into the firewall for any reporting you may require.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Anyone new to IT could easily use the familiar Desktop Experience (GUI) version because we all know how to use Windows, whether a client or server version. Once an IT user is more comfortable with the operating system, they can move on to the Core version, which is the way to go in almost all situations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Fortinet
    We had didn't any hardware failures at our two main office locations and upgraded our units last year after using them for about 5-6 years
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    some times server hungs and user sessions were busy to connect
    Read full review
    Performance
    Fortinet
    Good performance and really good integration. We have integration with Microsoft AD.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    need to improve the performance more
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Fortinet
    The Support team at Fortinet is excellent. They can not only help you configure the device for what you are trying to do, they offer suggestions on improving rules, and troubleshooting issues. Their response time is fast, ensuring you are up and running immediately with no questions asked. We had a hard drive failure in one of our Fortinet Fortigate appliances. The tech answered immediately, and started rebuilding the drive after some preliminary investigations. After rebuilding, there were still errors and issues, so they dispatched a brand new Fortinet Fortigate appliance. The tech then backed up the configurations for when the new device came in, which showed up in a few hours. A restore of the configuration took less than a minute, and there were no more errors or issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft's support is hugely wide-ranging from articles online to having to contact them directly for the more serious issues. In recent years when I have contacted them directly, I have found the support o be excellent as I have found myself connected to very knowledgeable people in the field in which I needed the support. The online support available is vast and I tend to find most of the time that there is always someone out there who has had the same issue as me in the past and knows something about how to resolve it! This is the advantage of using industry standard and long-established systems such as Windows Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Fortinet
    I received it a couple years afters use it and it was just to confirm my knowledge about the tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    it was my senior who trained Windows Server features and i was satisfied
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Fortinet
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    it was recorded session and useful
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Fortinet
    Make sure that you have the most current version of FortiOS. Make sure all Fortigates are on the same version
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Make sure that you have detailed processes in place for every server instance you plan to install/upgrade, if possible get the base OS loaded and Windows Updates applied ahead of time, and if using a VM take a snapshot prior to installing each role, as well as along the way.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Fortinet
    [Fortinet] FortiGate is not only cost effective but it gives the comprehensive security against the APT attacks and gives the complete traffic visibility and granular control. You can easily create the VDOMs (Virtual firewall) within a Fortigate firewall and customize the dashboard as per your requirement if you have multiple VDOMs within a single firewall.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    They are different experiences, and while the other solutions offer enterprise-grade stability and, in some cases, address Windows server shortcomings (such as patching), they all do the trick, but the other solutions require a deeper technical background/configuration of items at the command line, which some people are not fully comfortable with.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Fortinet
    No changes needed to terms and conditions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    need to reduce a lot
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Fortinet
    My environments are pretty small (less than 100 users per location) so no issues here.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    yes i completely agree multi deployment
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Fortinet
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    i like the professional service but need to improve
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Fortinet
    • The pricing given to us for our firewall was well within what we were already spending for other vendors solutions and had the added value of eliminating a separate expense for a dedicated web filtering appliance.
    • We have also adopted Fortinet's security fabric approach and thus changed vendors for our switch and AP devices. These devices have come at reduced prices as compared to another previous vendor we were using, particularly in relation to ongoing annual maintenance costs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Ability to keep all files in one place and give access to users makes file management easy to control.
    • VPN Access to off-site users is a plus.
    • Secure access to on-site SQL data from our accounting and estimating data is a plus.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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