Azure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate Firewall
Firewalls are a crucial component of any modern network infrastructure. Firewall provides security by inspecting and filtering the traffic passing through the network perimeter. They by design protect the network from inbound and outbound threats. Microsoft Azure and Fortinet FortiGate are two of the top-tier firewall solutions in the market. In this article, we will compare Azure Firewall and FortiGate Firewall, looking at their features, performance, and pricing.
Azure Firewall
Azure Firewall is a cloud-based firewall service that is highly available and scalable. It provides a native, built-in, and managed firewall as a service in Azure, for securing your Virtual Network resources. It offers built-in high availability and unrestricted cloud scalability. Azure Firewall provides inbound and outbound network address translation (NAT) for all the VM's in a subnet. It is a fully stateful firewall as a service, which means it blocks all traffic not explicitly allowed by the users. Azure Firewall features include:
- Application FQDN filtering
- Network Traffic filtering
- Web Category filtering
Azure Firewall pricing is based on the following components:
- Data processing
- Inbound inter-VNet data transfer
- Outbound inter-VNet data transfer
- Inbound public data transfer
- Outbound public data transfer
Fortinet FortiGate Firewall
Fortinet FortiGate Firewall is a next-generation firewall solution. It offers a complete security solution and has robust features for network security. It provides granular security policies that can filter against known and unknown network intrusions. FortiGate offers advanced security features such as intrusion prevention, high-speed SSL inspection, and more. FortiGate features include:
- Deep Packet inspection
- Web filtering
- Intrusion Prevention
FortiGate runs on a proprietary operating system called FortiOS, which offers high availability, scalability, and dynamic routing. Firewall pricing is based on licensing rather than usage. A variety of licenses can be chosen, including:
- Perpetual license
- Annual license
- Virtual machine (VM) license
Features Comparison
Azure Firewall and FortiGate Firewall have unique features, making them suitable for different use cases. Azure Firewall is a cloud-native solution with excellent integrations into Microsoft Azure. It is also a stateful firewall, making it ideal for cloud data security. On the other hand, FortiGate Firewall is a versatile next-generation solution with comprehensive security features such as deep packet inspection and web filtering. Let's compare the features of both firewalls in the table below:
| Features | Azure Firewall | FortiGate Firewall |
|---|---|---|
| Type of firewall | Stateful firewall as a service | Next-generation firewall as a service |
| Deployment | Cloud Only | Cloud, Virtual or Hardware |
| High-Availability | Configurable using Azure Availability Sets | Active-Standby or Active-Active High-Availability Groups |
| Scalability | Auto-scaling | Auto-scaling |
| Security policies | Network address translation (NAT), Network filtering, Application filtering | Web filtering, Intrusion Detection System, Application control, Antivirus, VPN, Sandbox Analysis, etc. |
| Pricing | Based on usage (Data processing, inter-VNet data transfers, public data transfers) | Based on Licensing (Perpetual, Annual, or VM licenses) |
| Integration with a cloud platform | Fully integrated with Microsoft Azure | Basic integration |
| Deep packet Inspection | No | Yes |
| Web Filtering | Yes | Yes |
| Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) | No | Yes |
| Cloud Integration | Excellent | Above average |
Performance Comparison
Performance is essential in any firewall solution. Network latency, throughput, and packet loss can make a big difference in network productivity. In our comparison, we will look at the performance of both Azure Firewall and FortiGate Firewall in terms of Network Latency, Throughput, and Packet Loss.
Network Latency
Latency is the delay between packets moving from source to destination across the network. It can cause significant delays and affect the overall network productivity. We ran a latency evaluation of both firewalls, and the results are shown in the graph below.
Data throughput
Throughput is the amount of data transferred across the network in a given time. We tested the throughput of both firewalls and displayed the results in the graph below:
Packet Loss
Packet loss can affect network performance significantly. We tested both firewalls for packet loss, and the results are displayed in the graph below:
Conclusion
Both Azure Firewall and Fortinet FortiGate are highly capable firewall solutions. However, they cater to different markets and have different use cases. Azure Firewall is an excellent cloud-native firewall solution with high availability and automation. On the other hand, Fortinet FortiGate is a robust next-generation firewall that offers web filtering, intrusion detection, and many advanced security features. It's scalability and versatile deployment options make it suitable for Enterprise needs.
Whichever firewall you choose for your use case, it is essential to test and evaluate its performance under real-time network conditions. Knowing a firewall's strengths and weaknesses will enable users to select the firewall that best suits their needs.