If you’re serious about online security, whether it’s something personal or business-related, you likely have lost a few winks of sleep worrying about how secure your network really is. Online security, unfortunately, is not something you make one single decision about and put out of your mind.
On the contrary, cyber threats need to be considered and addressed on an ongoing basis.
Although you may have already purchased secure SD-WAN unified threat management technology, you may come to a point where you need to upgrade.
Let’s say you purchased the FortiGate FG-60E and you’re wondering about whether or not to upgrade to the FortiGate FG-60F. The Fortinet FortiGate FG-60F looks powerful, but how does it compare to the FG-60E?
When it comes down to it, especially if you’re a business owner and/or operator, your network security is not something to take lightly. Hackers prey upon personal information, trade information, and other important data — and some hackers simply invade and steal just to prove that they can, while others might seek some sort of monetary gain. SD-WAN (software-defined networking) in any sort of wide-area network will present its opportunities for hackers, which is why you need effective SD-WAN management and operation.
More About the FortiGate FG-60E
If you’ve invested in the FortiGate/FortiWiFi 60E for your online security, you might have enjoyed an application-centric SD-WAN solution that was scalable and secure. The FG-60E comes in a compact fanless desktop apparatus that suits enterprise branch offices as well as mid-sized businesses alike.
Those who sought protection against just about any cyber threat under the sun utilized the FG-60E’s system-on-a-chip acceleration capabilities, not to mention its industry-leading SD-WAN security as a simple yet affordable option that could be easily applied just about anywhere.
With the FG-60E, Fortinet took a security-driven networking approach that provides users with seamless network integration that can handle a new generation of security.
As far as additional security features go, the FG-60E helps identify thousands of applications that travel through extensive network traffic offering a deep inspection of even the most granular policy enforcements. The FG-60E helps protect against malicious websites, malware, adware, as well as non-encrypted traffic.
Detecting and preventing both known and unknown attacks is a breeze for the FG-60E with its continuous threat intelligence generated from AI-powered FortiGuard Labs security technology as well as industry best threat performance and protection when it comes to SSL encrypted traffic. Advanced networking capabilities also help with easy integration — even in cases of pairing up with advanced layer 7 security and virtual domains (VDOMs).
In short, the FG-60E offers extensive deployment flexibility, resource utilization efficacy, as well as unparalleled third-party certifications from Network Security Services (NSS) to its users. Now, the real question is, does the FG-60F do anything to move the ball forward, so to speak?
What About the FortiGate FG-60F?
Those who have used the FortiGate FG-60E might be wondering if it’s a worthwhile endeavor to upgrade to the FortiGate FG-60F. When it comes down to it, the choice is up to you, but it’s important to fully understand what the FortiGate FG-60F brings to the table that the FG-60E simply does not.
Just like with the FG-60E, the FortiGate 60F series offers the user an excellent SD-WAN security solution that fits in a compact, fanless desktop that can be used by the enterprise branch office as well as the mid-sized businesses alike. The FG-60F helps protect against the same cyber threats as the FG-60E and more — again, with industry-leading secure SD-WAN with affordable pricing, compact packaging, and easily deployed in a variety of business scenarios.
Let’s not forget that the FortiGate FG-60E remains one of the fastest, most popular, and most secure firewalls available on the market. The FG-60E boasts a firewall throughput of 3 Gbps, an IPS throughput of 400 Mbps, an NGFW throughput of 250 Mbps, and an SSL VPN throughput of 150 Mbps. Combine that with the FG-60E’s 1,300,000 concurrent sessions (TCP) capabilities as well as its 30,000 new connections per second and you have one powerful and useful solution.
On the other hand, the FortiGate FG-60F somehow improves upon these respectable numbers. The FG-60F offers firewall throughput of 10 Gbps, an IPS throughput of 1.4 Gbps, a NGFW Throughput of 1 Gbps, and an SSL VPN throughput of 900 Mbps. The FG-60E offers 700,000 concurrent sessions (TCP) and 35,000 new connections per second to boot, improving in every applicable category.
The FG-60F can help identify threats embedded inside extensive network traffic providing deep inspection and, just like with the FG-60E, granular policy enforcement. The FG-60F also helps protect against malware, network exploitation, as well as malicious websites — occurring in both encrypted and unencrypted traffic.
The FG-60F has all the power, capabilities, and street cred that the FG-60E has earned in addition to effective console management with a simple to use solution that provides comprehensive network automation as well as unprecedented visibility. The FG-60F also provides users with zero-touch integration (powered by Security Fabric’s Single Pane of Glass Management).
The FortiGate FG-60F also provides a predefined compliance checklist that analyzes deployment, highlighting the best practices that will help improve overall security posture moving forward.
Okay, So the Fortinet FortiGate FG-60F Looks Powerful, But How Does it Compare to the FG-60E?
While the 60E happens to have SD-WAN capabilities, the 60F is actually designed with SD-WAN in mind. With an ASIC SOC4 chip, the 60F can easily identify and steer traffic — from a huge variety of applications (over 5000, last time we checked).
The FortiGate 60F provides a high-performance SD-WAN solution that comes in a compact fanless form factor package. The 60F design elements suit branch offices, remote outfits, as well as mid-sized businesses at the same time. Going one step further than the 60E, the FG-60F simplifies remote access issues that will ultimately assist businesses and organizations in reducing long-term expenses that come along with needing to phase out expensive MPLS connections. Benefits of using SD-WAN include advanced security, direct internet access for cloud-connected applications (applications that businesses are becoming more and more dependent upon — Salesforce, Dropbox, Office 365, etc.), and more.
Fortinet’s SD-WAN Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) is another aspect that makes the 60F so security-focused through WAN edge networking. This has to do with first-of-its-kind technology (SOC4, which was first incorporated into a more port-heavy, rack-mountable FortiGate 100F) that works to deliver blindingly fast application identification and steering — which can be used with over 5,000 known cloud applications. Fortinet’s FG-60F has advanced routing capabilities that will help modern connected businesses offer a better and far more superb user experience without having to worry about or suffer from any sort of performance loss.
Protecting Your Business and Your Network
Risk-Based Security released a Data Breach QuickView Report that shed light on some pretty staggering information. In just the first nine months of 2019, there were 5,183 security breaches that were reported — this resulted in over 7.9 billion records being exposed. Security breaches such as these cost businesses millions of dollars each year in damages as well as halted operations.
Total number of security breaches went up 33.3% from 2018 to 2019 doubling the total number of records exposed (a 112% increase). Even though it seems like a dated term, hackers are still the top breach type.
A security breach can lead to precious information being exposed, not to mention business operations coming to a grinding halt until an effective solution can be found and implemented. The worst thing about a security breach is that businesses owners and organizations generally become aware of breaches after it’s too late and considerable damage has already been done. Once a security breach has taken place, next measures include setting up a security response team, identifying which attack took place and where, responding swiftly and successfully to the attack, isolating affected hardware/software, cleaning and restoring, and, ultimately, adopting an entirely new set of security measures to ensure such a thing never happens again. All of these steps take time and create a significant amount of stresses and headaches that we’re sure you’d like to avoid.
While the FortiGate 60E offers a tremendous solution to business owners needing versatile and adaptable online security, the FortiGate 60F brings forth the next logical evolution in secure SD-WAN unified threat management. The FG-60F is the next in line, stepping out from the shadows of its F-Series big brother (the 100F) and revealing itself as a major competitor in the SD-WAN security race. As time goes on, the FortiGate FG-60F might even be the industry’s new face when it comes to digital transformation.
Any business or organization out there looking to deploy devices, applications, or even cloud environments across multiple branch locations should consider upgrading to the FortiGate FG-60F or trusting FortiGate for the first time. The WAN edge efficiency of the FortiGate FG-60F is unrivaled, even by its predecessor. Although the FG-60E might have provided big shoes to fill, the FG-60F does that job… and more!