Fortinet vs. Palo Alto Networks – A Detailed Analysis of Their NGFW Solutions

Fortinet offers a large lineup of cybersecurity products. Its NGFW solutions are engineered to provide best-in-class performance and security. Its FortiGate next-gen firewalls are designed with its proprietary ASIC chips and supported by the Fortinet OS. The Fortinet OS can be used with on-box or centralized management (Panorama). Its physical and virtual appliances support automated device provisioning and policies.

Management

Palo Alto and Fortinet offer various NGFWs for different use cases. They are both among the best-performing firewalls in terms of performance and security. But what is the difference between Fortinet vs. Palo Alto Networks NGFW? Palo Alto topped all tested firewalls in NSS Labs with a 7888 Mbps performance, while Fortinet scored 6753 Mbps. However, Fortinet is a more cost-effective solution. Both products have excellent scalability and security features but offer unique strengths. The Fortinet NGFW portfolio includes physical and virtual appliances that deliver scalability and performance with a single management console. They also provide a comprehensive security architecture that protects every edge. This allows businesses to improve threat prevention and visibility. It also helps them address talent shortages and respond to regulatory changes more quickly.

Fortinet also has a robust partner ecosystem. Its Fabric-Ready Technology Alliance Partners program assembles a wide network of international technology providers with specific knowledge to help customers defend against cyber threats. This ecosystem of partners can help companies address threats that are difficult to detect with traditional methods.

Both vendors provide cloud sandboxing solutions to test unknown files and protect against unknown malware. Fortinet’s Wildfire cloud provides signature coverage for most initial payload samples, while Palo Alto’s Fortisandbox cloud can detect C2 analysis and prevent lateral propagation of threats. Both have a simple, user-friendly interface and are easy to configure. They can also be used in virtual environments, making them ideal for SMBs.

Cost

Fortinet is a leading innovator of firewall technology and the leader in the market for network security. Its NGFW appliances use purpose-built ASIC chips, which deliver twice the performance of comparable solutions that utilize generic CPUs. This performance is measured using the industry-standard Security Compute Rating benchmark. Fortinet’s NGFWs also consume less power than competing products, which makes them a more eco-friendly choice for businesses. The company’s NGFWs are available in specially designed hardware devices between the PA-200 and the high-end PA-7200 series and as virtual devices supporting various cloud-based environments. Depending on the size of your organization, you can choose from different configurations of each product. In addition, the NGFWs offer advanced features to protect against threats. For example, they can detect malware that has been hidden or disguised in encrypted traffic. They can also monitor the integrity of the application layer and prevent the insertion of malicious code into a running process.

Moreover, they have robust management and reporting tools that make them easy to deploy and manage. Fortinet also offers an impressive list of services, including SD-WAN and centralized security management. They’re also developing Zero Trust Access, a new area of network security that’s a progression from firewalls.

Scalability

Unlike competitors, Fortinet NGFW solutions are designed to scale. Their single-pass parallel processing architecture enables high throughput while providing security features and technologies to prevent advanced threats that have never been seen before. This allows a company to grow without worrying about performance degradation and can be easily integrated into existing infrastructure. In addition to scaling, Fortinet’s NGFW offers industry-leading performance. In a third-party validation test, Fortinet appliances maintained predictable throughput with cloud-delivered security services enabled, while their competition showed significant throughput degradation.

The Fortinet firewall is also easy to use, offering a centralized network view. It provides visibility into all traffic and includes powerful logging and reporting features. It is available on both hardware management appliances and virtual platforms. It is simple to deploy and maintain and is a great choice for companies that want to increase security and reduce costs.

Another benefit of the Fortinet firewall is its ability to detect and block malware and ransomware. Its multi-layer detection system can recognize and protect against various attack patterns, including evasion techniques. In addition, it can identify malicious and suspicious activities and stop them in real time. In addition, the Fortinet firewall can also prevent attacks from bypassing traditional security measures. The Fortinet firewall is an excellent solution for small businesses that need complete protection from sophisticated threats.

Security

Fortinet is a top-rated next-generation firewall company and has several advanced features. Its security fabric provides complete network protection across on-premises and cloud-based devices. The company also produces its ASIC chips and claims that these give it an edge over competitors that use generic CPUs.The company’s NGFWs are designed to meet the demands of today’s digital businesses. They offer a unified operating system that delivers unhindered visibility and integrated threat intelligence. They are also easy to manage and scale. They are also known to stop 40% more zero-day threats than other firewalls in real-time with inline machine learning. The company also offers advanced security capabilities, including threat prevention, lateral movement detection and mitigation, and breach protection. Both companies have a strong security portfolio. Its ML-powered NGFWs are designed for simplicity, automation, and integration, while its VM-series virtual NGFWs can securely scale to protect deployments in public clouds and SDN environments. Its security features also include data loss prevention and network segmentation. Unlike many other firewalls, Palo Alto’s security products don’t significantly consume bandwidth. They have a single-pass parallel processing architecture that allows them to inspect traffic at high rates while maintaining predictable throughput. They also have DNS security, preventing malware from using DNS as a command-and-control channel.