The FortiGate-300A is a fullfunctionfront-end systemfor protecting a networkin a way that goes far beyondintrusion prevention. It also has abuilt-in firewall and anti-virusprotection as well as web filtering.Each port on the unit can befirewalled with specific rules andpolicies, allowing protectedVLANs and isolated networks tobe created.
The 300A is a very intuitiveproduct to set up and manage.Deployment is quick and easy, sothe network is not interrupted forlong. Once its ports are set upand a few simple configurationsteps are completed, this devicebegins to monitor and protect thenetwork. We did find it a littlecomplicated working with theweb interface at first, and also hadminor problems with the reportingfeature, but after a little troubleshootingwe got everything upand running smoothly.
This appliance performedexceptionally well through all ourtests, blocking and logging allattacks and vulnerability scans. Itcan also be connected to a Fortinetlog analyser, which displays allevent and attack information, soadministrators can spot specificweak points in the network.
The FortiGate comes with verysimple, organised documentation.Also included is a quickstartguide, which clearly lays out thedeployment topology and a fewsimple setup steps. After thedevice is configured with thequickstart guide, there is moredocumentation online for settingthe device up further, as well asdocumentation on a CD.
With online, phone, and emailsupport, it is always easy to find afix to problems with this unit. Wefound many answers to problemsby going to the online knowledgecentre, with no need to contact asupport engineer by phone.
FortiGate-300A appliance ispriced at £5,573 with a cost of£1,115 for 12 months FortiGuardIPS service for a total cost of£6,688. While this appliance is atthe lower end of the price scale, itrequires an annual subscription tothe IPS service, which may or maynot be cost-effective dependingon the size of the company.
However, we found it to be veryeasy to manage and it doesprovide a lot of logging andreporting capabilities, which addsto its cost-effectiveness.
