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Fortinet vs Sonicwall - What’s the Difference?

Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) from SonicWall and Fortinet both appear on eSecurity Planet's list of 10 top NGFW providers, and both are highly regarded by users and analysts, especially for budget-conscious buyers. Here is all the information you require regarding Fortinet vs. SonicWall

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To protect their information, technology, and customers, large business owners now absolutely must use firewall services. Business owners had the option of using SonicWALL or FortiGate from Fortinet.

Both of these technologies provide thorough firewall security defenses focused on preventing harmful assaults from reaching networks. Both have network traffic prioritization and intrusion detection built into work with the most modern IP network conventions, ensuring that wicked individuals and the tools they use to embed are found and destroyed.

In addition to offering anti-malware and anti-bot data tools, VPN services, security, and on-device tracking, FortiGate and SonicWALL also offer these services. Every other solution includes software control, a set of policies routing, Ip blocking, spam email filtration, and SSL decoding utilities. Each offers different alternatives, such as on-premises hardware, a virtual appliance, or even a cloud solution. Both of them use various operating systems.

Given the degree of product overlap, it's critical to know when to distinguish one feature from another rather than simply choosing the one that best suits your business's needs.

Fortinet vs Sonicwall - Table of Contents

What is Fortinet?

fortinet

The best security system is provided by Fortinet's FortiGate, a next-generation firewall, for both individuals and small enterprises. Even when optimizing your system by leveraging intent safety.

processors and FortiGuard malware detection, a FortiGate network demonstrates unmatched efficiency and security. Fortinet training is highly useful if you want to be an expert in network security solutions. Don't hesitate; just do it and protect the sensitive information that belongs to your company from threats.

Fortinet is a strong shortlist contender, according to Gartner, for all enterprise firewall appliance use cases, particularly those where price/performance is a crucial consideration. However, the research company points out that Fortinet doesn't provide direct vendor support, which means that the effectiveness of the channel partner directly affects the support experience

If you want to enrich your career and become a professional in Fortinet, then enroll in "Fortinet Training" - This course will help you to achieve excellence in this domain

Features of Fortinet FortiGate

  1. Cloud features: In this area, Fortinet has trailed behind rivals, but its recent offers for AWS and Google Cloud demonstrate that it is catching up.
  2. Management: High grades are given for reporting, and the majority of customers say the program is simple to use. There is a need for improvement in centralized and cloud management.
  3. Value: Fortinet received the top value rating from NSS Labs, receiving a $2 TCO per protected Mbps.
  4. Security and performance: The FortiGate 500E received a 99.3% security effectiveness rating from NSS Labs, placing it second only to Forcepoint among the products examined. 6,753 Mbps was a strong rate of performance.
  5. Implementation:  Users claim that integration and implementation were rather simple.
  6. Support: Customers are reliant on the caliber of their channel partner in the absence of direct vendor support.
Related Article: Fortinet Tutorial

What is Sonicwall?

sonicwall

If you're a little business or a huge innovator, either at home or even in the cloud, SonicWall's next-generation firewalls (NGFW) can give safety, regulation, as well as accessibility to users. Every firewall incorporates award-winning SonicWall hardware and software to provide you with a competitive edge against ever-evolving threats. 

SonicWall firewalls were also developed to meet a person's unique security and functionality requirements, at a price that will protect your budget when purchasing your system, with unique bargains in addition to channels of all shapes and sizes.

According to Gartner, SonicWall is a fantastic fit for cost-conscious businesses seeking increased productivity at a fair cost and reliable equipment that's simple to maintain. Even so, the research community claims that the organization has lagged behind its main rivals in developing new features that set it apart from the competition and in improving current ones.

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Features of Sonicwall

  1. Cloud features: A virtual firewall and API-level integration with AWS public cloud environments are just now being made available by SonicWall.
  2. Management: The target market would predict that ease of management would be a strength. One user praised the simplicity of management and implementation but pointed out that reporting might use some work.
  3. Value: SonicWall scored a $4 TCO per protected Mbps from NSS Labs, putting it among the top three evaluated systems.
  4. Security and performance: NSS Labs gave the SonicWall NSA 2650 a security effectiveness rating of 98.8%, placing it within one percentage point of the top performers. Performance was below average for tested appliances at 1,028 Mbps, although the comparison is unfair for an appliance that costs less than $2,000 to purchase. Before reaching the premium SuperMassive series SonicWall firewalls, there are five NSA-level SonicWall firewalls above this one.
  5. Implementation:  The NSA combines "enterprise function with an SMB implementation feel," according to one CTO.
  6. Support: The most pressing problem appears to be the significance of obtaining a reliable third-party partner.
Related Article: SonicWall Interview Questions and Answers

Pros and Cons of Fortinet vs Sonicwall

Pros and Cons of Fortinet

Pros:

  • Data transmission is not hampered by this powerful network virus scanner tool, and the thorough analytics give security a wealth of data to assist us to optimize our network operations.
  • Despite its technical prowess, Fortinet is easy to download, install, and use whether it's a hardware firewall or a cloud security layer.
  • The fact that it offers versions for Linux and macOS in addition to Windows is its most commendable feature.
  • FortiGate has the benefit of being able to be used on-premises or in the cloud.

Cons:

  • The cost of this item is high.
  • Their monitoring and reporting ought to be more reliable and superior, in my opinion.
  • Pros and Cons of  Sonicwall

Pros and Cons of Sonicwall

Pros:

  • Comparatively cheap in comparison to some of the more pricey goods, such as Palo Alto Networks.
  • The SonicWall NSA interface is uniform across all models, making setup simple.

Cons:

  • The logging interface is complicated and challenging to quickly and accurately obtain information.
  • While SonicWall NSA makes an effort to imitate Palo Alto Network's investigative capabilities, it falls far short.
Related Article: Fortinet Interview Questions and Answers

Fortinet vs Sonicwall- Comparison

Here are a few of the key distinctions between Fortinet and Sonicwall, according to various criteria

 SonicwallFortinet
Security performanceNSS Labs awarded the SonicWall NSA 2650 a security effectiveness score of 98.8%.The FortiGate 500E from Fortinet scored a 99.3%.
PerformanceSonicWall's NGFW received a 1,028 Mbps rating from NSS Labs.Fortinet's hardware had a 6,753 Mbps rating.
ValueWith a $4 overall price of proprietorship per safeguarded Mbps, In the NSS Labs rankings, Sonicwall was ranked second.NSS Labs gave Fortinet the best rating; its overall price of proprietorship per safeguarded Mbps was $2.
SupportCustomers often have beneficial experiences with SonicWall support, which has gotten better over the recent several years.Few Fortinet users contend that since there is no direct vendor assistance Before issues can be fixed, they must first be escalated.
User Reviews

NSA SonicWall is rated 7.0 out of 10.

A rating of 4.2 out of 5 is given to SonicWall.

After a brief progress curve, the User Interface is effective and simple to use, according to SonicWall NSA reviewers. According to one reviewer,  IPS/IDS, "content filtering, and other services of  security were enabled via checkboxes once firewall rules and network were configured."

IT Central Station users give FortiGate an average rating of 8.3 out of 10.

Users of Gartner Peer Insights give Fortinet a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

The FortiGate system has received high marks from reviewers for being "very stable, quick to diagnose and set up," with a "seamless, uncomplicated integration into a massive network" and a "simple to use and complete" user interface.

Another reviewer cited the ease of management and compatibility with a single operating system as reasons for choosing Fortinet FortiGate.

SupportCustomers of Fortinet rely heavily on the caliber of their partner channel. Users of Fortinet point out that firmware updates and new features can vary in quality.Palo Alto excels as a result of direct assistance from vendors. Palo Alto's stability during the infrequent significant updates is unsatisfactory.
DeploymentThe Capture Cloud Platform of SonicWall offers security services for its NGFWs, which are offered as real or virtual appliances.The same solution is offered on all significant platforms of the public cloud, and Fortinet's next-generation firewalls can be accessed as an appliance, virtual machine, or cloud service.
Pricing

SonicWall's NGFWs are available with 1, 2, or 3-year subscriptions to the Advanced Gateway Security Suite following a free trial of 30 days. These services include a continually updated sandbox, application control, content filtering, gateway antivirus, technical support, and intrusion prevention  

The number of services for security subscriptions that were bought, the size of the network, and other factors are typically used to calculate firewall fees.

For hardware and a single year of services for security subscription, prices for small businesses or branch offices start at roughly $500 and go up to about $80,000 for the central office of major organizations.

The NSA 2650, with a $2,495 base list cost but is routinely offered for less than $2,000, was analyzed by NSS Labs.

A base pricing for every Fortinet model exists as well as support and service options.

Entry-level appliances of NGFW from the company range in price from $430 to $1400, while NGFWs cost between $2,000 and $14,000 for commercial use.

Online retailers sell the NSS-tested FortiGate 500E for slightly over $5,400.

Conclusion

Choosing the ideal NGFW for your company can be challenging. You must take your goals, finances, and requirements into account. Fortunately, viable product lines from SonicWall and Fortinet are available and can satisfy those needs. Now all you have to do is decide which will work best for your short-term ambitions.

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About Author

 

Madhuri is a Senior Content Creator at MindMajix. She has written about a range of different topics on various technologies, which include, Splunk, Tensorflow, Selenium, and CEH. She spends most of her time researching on technology, and startups. Connect with her via LinkedIn and Twitter .

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