Fortinet vs Palo Alto Networks (SD WAN & Cybersecurity)

Chassis based:

FortiGate 5000 and 7000 series

High-end:

FortiGate 2000, 3000 and 4000 series

Mid-range:

FortiGate 100F, 200F, 400E, 600E, 900D

Entry-level:

FortiGate 30E - 80F (8 models)

Virtual firewall:

FortiGate-VM (models supporting 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and unlimited vCPUs with throughput form 12 Gbps to greater than 50 Gbps depending on hardware).

Cloud/VM environments

• AWS
• Azure
• Google Cloud
• Oracle Cloud

Hypervisors

• VMware
• Nutanix
• OpenStack/KVM

Orchestration systems

• VMware NSX-T, Nuage, OpenStack

Container support

• FortiGate cloud connector supports container labels when defining security policies

OS:

FortiOS that integrates with the Fortinet Security Fabric to deliver a variety of security functions, operational controls and third-party services.

Uses custom NP7 and SoC4 security processors to accelerate firewall, VPN and IPS performance.

Chassis based:

PA-7000 and PA-5450 series

High-end:

PA-5200

Mid-range:

PA-3200

Entry-level:

PA-220, -400, -800 series

Virtual firewall:

VM-series (-50 to -700 supporting from 200 Mbps to 16 Gbps App-ID-enabled firewall performance).

Cloud/VM environments

• AWS
• Azure, AzureStack
• Google Cloud
• Oracle Cloud
• Alibaba Cloud
• VMware vCloud on AWS, private cloud (NSX, ESXi, Hyper-V, OpenStack)

Container support

• CN-series product for Kubernetes environments supports open source Kubernetes and AWS EKS, Azure AKS, Google Cloud GKE and Red Hat Openshift managed services. 

OS:

PAN-OS provides L7 visibility and control over network traffic and supports redundant HA environments. On top of traditional NGFW features, it includes inline ML analysis and protection, support for third-party IPS signatures, integrated IoT security and SD-WAN metrics

Uses multi-core CPU design that varies by model, although Palo Alto Networks does not provide details about the internal architecture. 

Edge hardware:

FortiGate 40F, 60F, 80F, 100F, 200F each with unrestricted WAN bandwidth and IPSec VPN throughput from 4.4 Gbps to 13 Gbps

Wireless support via the FortiExtender 5G/LTE appliance which supports up to two SIMs and two wireless modems for a total of four wireless connections to a FortiGate firewall and SD-WAN network.

Cloud virtual appliance:

Fortinet Secure SD-WAN for Multi-Cloud

Managed Service:

Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and Megaport Virtual Edge (MVE) Solution combines Fortinet software with Megaport's global network of  230 cloud on-ramps and 700+ data centers.

Edge hardware:

Entry-level NGFW hardware including the PA-220, --400, -800 series. 

Wireless support provided through partnerships such as the Cradlepoint NetCloud Service that combines wireless LTE and 5G endpoints with a managed service.

Cloud virtual appliance:

Prisma SD-WAN with CloudBlades for branch services like security and multi-cloud connectivity without needing to update the branch appliance.

Managed Service:

Prisma SD-WAN

SASE services:

FortiSASE is a cloud-based service designed to secure remote users that is powered by and includes the security features of FortiOS.

Fortinet also offers most of these products as a la carte managed services (for example, FortiClient Managed Services).

Security and management features:

• Malware prevention including zero-day protection against unknown threats using dynamic analysis in cloud sandbox environments (FortiSandbox).
• Ransomware protection using behavioral analytics
• IPS with encrypted traffic analysis
• SWG filtering (FortiGuard Web Filtering Service)
• Application controls using complex signatures to detect Web, DB and SaaS applications.
• DLP
• ZTNA that works with Microsoft AD, Okta and other identity providers.

Logging and analytics to help troubleshoot problems and incidents and perform compliance audits.

SASE services:

Prisma Access, a comprehensive SASE product that works with Prisma SD-WAN and includes a connection client (GlobalProtect) supporting split tunneling and digital experience monitoring of end-to-end performance.

Security and management features:

• NGFW as-a-service
• SWG integrated with CASB to deliver URL filtering, threat protection, malware analysis (Wildfire), DLP and remote browser isolation
• ZTNA with RBAC

FortiCloud SOC-as-a-service providing continual monitoring, detection, incident response, incident investigation and forensics, device management.

FortiGuard Labs Consulting to assist in developing and perfecting a security architecture, training and analysis and mitigation of particular threats.

FortiGuard global threat intelligence

Incident and data breach response

Proactive assessments

Global threat intelligence

Easy to deploy.

Broader product range, particularly suitable for SOHO, retail and WFH installations, including cellular LTE and 5G bridges for SD-WAN endpoints.

Three models of custom SoCs to accelerate network processing and increase hardware efficiency.

Customers report more pricing flexibility.

Ability to buy SASE components as individual products.

Consistently profitable financial position with accelerating revenue.

World-class firewall technology.

Excellent integration with third-party management tools and APIs.

Aggressive adopter of cloud services with Prisma Cloud customer base growing 30 percent and usage 69 percent in the past year.

Broader SOAR and XDR offerings.

Full-featured, Internally-managed SASE product with more than 100 POPs in 77 countries.

Continued rapid growth, with positive operating income and free cash flow (FCF).