Fortinet and Palo Alto both provide next-generation firewall solutions with a full suite of security features. Both have been rated highly in independent tests and by users.
Featuring device ID, Fortinet’s flagship product FortiGate provides a powerful security solution for network edges. It also supports Hyperscale Security and offers efficient performance without compromising security.
Security Matters: Comparing Fortigate and PAN Firewalls
Essential Elements to Know for Comparing Fortigate and PAN Firewalls
Cost
Firewalls are one of the essential tools in a network security system. They protect a network by preventing malicious instructions or data from entering or leaving a computer. They also help filter out spam or other unwanted communications.
They can also detect and block malicious code that attempts to gain access to the system. Unlike host-based firewalls, which are used only on individual computers, next-generation firewalls (NGFW) protect entire networks.
Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks are two leading NGFW providers. Both have been ranked at the top of independent firewall tests by Cyber Ratings and offer excellent security capabilities.
A federated enterprise security solution provides PCS/PPS users access control to resources protected by a firewall. The IF-MAP server provisions the PCS/PPS user identity to the firewall, which grants access based on the Auth Table mapping policies configured on PPS/PCS.
While a firewall is no longer enough to protect against the most sophisticated cyberattacks, it is still important for most companies. However, firewalls can be costly to implement and manage if not properly configured. Fortunately, there are several ways to lower the cost of a firewall.
One option is to choose a cloud-based solution. This can save you money on hardware and installation costs. Additionally, you can reduce the time your staff spends managing the firewall.
Performance
Fortinet and Palo Alto offer next-generation firewalls that users highly rate, analysts, and independent tests. However, there are firewall comparison between Fortigate and PAN. For example, while both are highly rated for their security capabilities, Fortinet is better than Palo Alto. NSS Labs ranked Fortinet as the best value among all the next-generation firewalls tested, at $2 TCO per protected Mbps.
Fortinet also offers a single TCO license for all its hardware platforms. It uses the same operating system (PAN-OS) for every device, providing its web management interfaces with a consistent look and feel.
Moreover, Fortinet’s AI/ML-powered FortiGuard services deliver total protection and visibility, natively integrated proxy, automation-driven network administration, hyper-scale security, and security fabric integration. The company’s physical, virtual, and container NGFWs all come with these technologies.
Fortinet’s Single-Pass Parallel Processing architecture also scales to meet your security needs without compromising performance. The patented architecture provides a 300% higher performance for pure firewalling than the industry average.
Security services can be enabled simultaneously, allowing you to size your environment once and maintain performance. In addition, Fortinet’s built-in SD-WAN and Zero Trust Access allow for converged networking and security with no additional cost or complexity.
Features
Users of Fortinet FortiGate say it is reliable and that the features make up for the price. They also say it is one of the best NGFWs on the market.
Fortinet is an industry-leading NGFW that delivers security without compromise, protecting any edge at any scale, anywhere in the world. With AI/ML-powered FortiGuard services, full protection and visibility, natively integrated proxy, and automation-driven network security administration, Fortinet delivers next-generation capabilities to future-proof your business.
IPS and PAN firewall integration allows you to enforce role-based layer three access control. The IPS server authenticates the endpoints. It checks compliance, and if unauthorized, the user role is updated on the PAN firewall, and policy is applied. This enables the user to connect to web applications and network resources only if they are part of the trusted network.
Using Panorama, administrators can centrally manage and monitor all managed firewalls, WildFire appliances, and log collectors. The platform allows administrators to set common policies and share them across all devices.
This provides a more consistent management experience for users and simplifies the process of troubleshooting or analyzing security incidents. Panorama also can send consolidated reports on traffic patterns or security incidents.
The system uses a centralized security architecture that is highly available and scaleable, making it an ideal choice for enterprise networks.
Management
As a leader in network security, both Fortinet and Palo Alto have strong reputations among cybersecurity buyers for their next-generation firewalls (NGFW). An NGFW is a crucial part of a large-scale network.
It goes beyond a standard stateful firewall by offering capabilities like application control, intrusion prevention system (IPS), URL filtering, and advanced threat prevention features such as sandboxing.
Both Fortinet and Palo Alto offer a variety of NGFW solutions that can be deployed on-premises, in a cloud environment, or on a virtual machine. Depending on the type of device, they can provide high-speed performance, security services, and visibility for both physical and virtual networks and are designed to protect any edge at any scale.
Users of Fortinet NGFWs say that the platform is reliable and provides many valuable features for its price point. In addition, it can be centrally managed, simplifying configurations and maintenance. It also includes a comprehensive monitoring and reporting tool, Panorama, which helps consumers identify network risks and make more informed decisions about their firewalls.
Fortinet’s NGFW products offer more advanced security functionality than its competitors, including the ability to identify and stop zero-day attacks. Fortinet also provides a comprehensive endpoint detection and response (EDR) product, FortiEDR, which reduces the attack surface of servers and endpoints, detects threats in seconds, stops malware infestations, and identifies successful breaches within minutes or hours.
