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Quality and Effectiveness: The FortiGate 1500D enterprise firewall—Fortinet’s version of Next-Generation firewall—delivers an advanced solution with high availability that incorporates all the features school districts need to control and protect their networks. Utilizing Application Specific Integrated Processor (ASIC) hardware acceleration provides 80 Gbps of firewall and 15 Gbps of intrusion prevention and application control performance, the 1500D will not impact network performance.
The 1500D includes eight 10 GbE (SFP+) slots and 32 GbE ports in a high-density (2U) appliance form factor and can be scaled and extended with a nice selection of plugins. Fortinet offers a tool set that includes the firewall, antivirus, and anti-malware, in addition to plugins for a wireless controller and more. FortiGate’s solution is well thought out and an effective product that schools would benefit from having as part of their security system.
Ease of Use: The FortiGate 1500D is easy to configure and install in existing server racks. The operating system is well designed, and the left-hand navigation is very intuitive and gives the end user deep visibility into their traffic and threats. It didn’t take us long to gain an understanding of how to configure and manage the system once it was connected to our Active Directory domain. For those who need further assistance, Fortinet supplies ample resources, both in print and online, to assist in the installation and management of their systems.
The 1500D scans all traffic, both incoming and outgoing, for viruses and malware that is updated consistently. The unit offers application control as well as identity and device-based policy enforcement so users can defend against a variety threats without sacrificing the speed and performance of their network.
Creative Use of Technology: The FortiGate 1500D offers the right mix of features and scalability to meet the needs of any school. The combination of its innovative interface and suite of tools makes it very easy to manage and support.
To install the VPN on a client, for example, a user can simply browse the district’s uniquely configured URL. The download page offers a selection of Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android clients for installation. All of the clients are easy to install and configure. They also support features like SSL inspection and offer the end user the option to install their FortiClient antivirus solution on their devices to ensure that they’re fully protected.
Suitability for Use in a School Environment: The FortiGate 1500D and the entire family of Fortinet firewall solutions are very well suited for school districts of any size. They’re well designed and offer full protection with the kind of high visibility and reporting that school districts need to secure their environments.
The built-in Web filter offers an easy-to-manage interface that interfaces with Active Directory so schools have the flexibility to manage users and filter permissions in a variety of ways. Customizing and adding exceptions, both via specific URLs and wildcards, is fast and easy so all users can get to the sites that they need in a hurry.
OVERALL RATING:
Both large districts with well-staffed IT departments and smaller districts with limited resources will find a FortiGate firewall model to meet their needs. They’re scalable and intuitive to maintain. Overall, FortiGate firewalls are an exceptional and complete security solution.
TOP FEATURES
• Easy to configure and maintain for any size environment.
• Excellent throughput will not slow down network performance.
• Excellent intrusion and antivirus protection with high visibility reporting.
