Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center Competitors and Alternatives

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is that I can completely isolate devices that are compromising the network. I get all of my analytics from the FortiGate point of view. I have FortiGate, FortiAnalyzer, and FortiManager for all of my analytics. The… more»

What needs improvement?

I don't like the way it's managed. For some of the smaller switches that we have, I was not able to log into it and manage it. I am not sure if it is something that I am missing or something that I am not doing correctly or if this applies… more»

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's affordable and there are no additional costs, just regular support, and license fees.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously we were with Cisco, but we were already using FortiMail and received the distribution for Fortinet. We purchase Fortinet firewalls. The firewall and the mail were already working for us, so we thought that would just do… more»

What other advice do I have?

I am working on a roadmap to ensure that everything is running on a Secure Access and not just from the switches. I am currently working on introducing SSO and Active Directory. It's going to be extensive, where everything will be running… more»

What is most valuable?

The load balancing is very good. The solution offers very good multi-routing. The firewall is very good. For the interface, I always use Winbox.

What needs improvement?

The MikroTik weblog, web user log, was supposed to be remotely accessible. However, it was not as good as I had wanted it to be. I found its functionality disappointing. There's no proper interface. They show only IPs but not the DNS address or complete address. It only shows the IP addresses. Also… more»

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've previously used FortiGate and Fortinet devices. They have very good security and firewalls.

What other advice do I have?

I'd warn others that a tutorial or a bit of learning is required before beginning. It helps if a user has a bit of understanding about the solution. There's some complexity in the terminologies and surrounding the initial implementation process. Overall, it's a good product, but it requires a bit of… more»

What is most valuable?

The VPC feature is the solution's most valuable aspect. The quality, like all Cisco solutions, is very high. The fact that it's Cisco is one of the reasons we chose to use it.

What needs improvement?

Cisco has a licensing procedure that is very complicated and it changes every six months.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost of licensing is very expensive, especially if you compare it to Fortigate.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have personally previously used Dell, which is very unstable in comparison to Cisco. You must review all documents and if you don't correctly do this, you must open a ticket. It takes a few days for a simple question about the licenses to… more»

What other advice do I have?

We're using the on-premises deployment model. I'd recommend the solution. It has all the features we need included within it. I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.