The FortiGate-300A is a fullfunction
front-end system
for protecting a network
in a way that goes far beyond
intrusion prevention. It also has a
built-in firewall and anti-virus
protection as well as web filtering.
Each port on the unit can be
firewalled with specific rules and
policies, allowing protected
VLANs and isolated networks to
be created.
The 300A is a very intuitive
product to set up and manage.
Deployment is quick and easy, so
the network is not interrupted for
long. Once its ports are set up
and a few simple configuration
steps are completed, this device
begins to monitor and protect the
network. We did find it a little
complicated working with the
web interface at first, and also had
minor problems with the reporting
feature, but after a little troubleshooting
we got everything up
and running smoothly.
This appliance performed
exceptionally well through all our
tests, blocking and logging all
attacks and vulnerability scans. It
can also be connected to a Fortinet
log analyser, which displays all
event and attack information, so
administrators can spot specific
weak points in the network.
The FortiGate comes with very
simple, organised documentation.
Also included is a quickstart
guide, which clearly lays out the
deployment topology and a few
simple setup steps. After the
device is configured with the
quickstart guide, there is more
documentation online for setting
the device up further, as well as
documentation on a CD.
With online, phone, and email
support, it is always easy to find a
fix to problems with this unit. We
found many answers to problems
by going to the online knowledge
centre, with no need to contact a
support engineer by phone.
FortiGate-300A appliance is
priced at £5,573 with a cost of
£1,115 for 12 months FortiGuard
IPS service for a total cost of
£6,688. While this appliance is at
the lower end of the price scale, it
requires an annual subscription to
the IPS service, which may or may
not be cost-effective depending
on the size of the company.
However, we found it to be very
easy to manage and it does
provide a lot of logging and
reporting capabilities, which adds
to its cost-effectiveness.