FortiGate vs Windows Server

• It is the most reliable NGFW that we have ever been touch with it.
• You can easily upgrade the firewall cluster firmware without user attention!!!
• User IDentity based feature is fantastic and intrusion prevention just works with least false-positive possible.
• Very reachfull and intuitive GUI, just love it

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• Easy to use due to its intuitive graphical user interface.
• Very popular and makes integration easier.
• Lots of software drivers available.
• Has many functionalities such as Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, VPN, RDP, VDI server, etc.
• Many patches and updates available. Maybe abit too much too often.
• Cost effective and with budget.
• Remote desktop feature simplifies remote access to this server.
• It has a built in VPN and ssl certificate feature.
• Event viewer is available for alerts, although it seems too cumbersome to go through the logs.
• If you got too many Windows systems to manage, then SCCM is an option.

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• When we switched to Fortinet Fortigate, it took some time getting used to and become familiar with the new interface. Being used to strictly command-line interfaces, a full GUI-based firewall was something brand new. Careful planning had to be done when creating rules to ensure we didn't miss anything. However, once we got used to the new GUI interface, going from one Fortinet product to another was simple, as Fortinet used the same interface for all of its devices.

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• DHCP Server could be better - we use the router for DHCP Routing
• Print Server - not a fan of using the server as a print server since you have to license it. Direct access to printers via IP addresses is a much more efficient way to go
• Better backup program - we utilize a third-party program that gives us more flexibility when restoring individual files.

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• Fortigates have an interesting bundle model for support and subscription services that make it an attractive option to deploy Firewall, IDS, Ant-virus, anti-SPAM in a single device. The cost of the bundle is pretty much what you pay for the device, not requiring huge expenditures on it's time to renew the hardware.

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• Because of our Microsoft Campus Agreement, Windows products are fairly affordable for us and that has been a huge blessing. We are considering some Azure cloud options and some of that is covered under our Campus Agreement, making it a nice incentive to start migrating certain apps and functionality to the cloud
• I don't have access to our budgets so I cannot give a good answer as far as the impact of ROI on our institution, but if your company can afford it, you cannot go wrong with Windows server. Not having to send your sys admins to Linux or Unix school alone is a big savings as well as not having to train your staff on using a Linux desktop instead of a Windows-based one.
• The compatibility with end users of all varieties and platforms will definitely impact your ROI in a positive way. We have Apple users, Android, Windows, and even a few Linux end users on our campus and Windows server works quite well with all of them.

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