F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager and Fortinet FortiADC compete in the application delivery controller market. While F5 BIG-IP LTM has the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set and high performance, Fortinet FortiADC is a compelling choice for those prioritizing cost-effectiveness and simplicity.
Features: F5 BIG-IP LTM offers iRules for traffic management, advanced load balancing for complex applications, and SSL offloading for security. Its integration with apps like Oracle PeopleSoft is a significant advantage. Fortinet FortiADC provides essential load balancing, simplified management, and integration capabilities aimed at less complex environments, prioritizing cost-efficiency in its design.
Room for Improvement: F5 BIG-IP LTM can improve by addressing its high cost and complex licensing, simplifying system configuration, and enhancing integration features. Fortinet FortiADC could benefit from more responsive technical support, expanding its feature set to better handle SSL traffic, and improving performance in high-volume environments.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: F5 BIG-IP LTM supports versatile deployment across hybrid and on-premises environments, with varied feedback on customer support efficiency. Its technical assistance is knowledgeable but inconsistent. Fortinet FortiADC is praised for its straightforward setup and quick deployment, though user feedback on customer support expertise varies, suggesting areas for enhancement.
Pricing and ROI: F5 BIG-IP LTM, known for higher pricing, offers superior features that some users find justify the cost. It's considered a premium option, requiring substantial budget allocation. Fortinet FortiADC's competitive pricing attracts budget-conscious organizations, viewed as offering a favorable return on investment by focusing on necessary features without excessive financial burden.
The major return on investment is the security of our data.
The alert system is efficient, sending alerts within a fraction of a second if any power issues arise.
I would rate the technical support of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) nine out of ten.
Overall, my experience with F5 is very good compared to Radware.
The support team is knowledgeable and efficiently assists with automation and configuration problems.
On a scale from one to ten, the support deserves an eight.
The service is helpful yet not excellent.
FortiGSLB cloud integrations provide maximum service availability and some flexible licensing options.
It is scalable for some versions, however, as components reach their end of support, upgrades are necessary to maintain scalability.
Overall, it has been good; in the past it was very good, and now it is still performing well.
The support system is reliable when issues like automation or configuration arise.
The pricing of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is on the higher side compared to competitors, but it is worth it.
Fortinet has been a pioneer for enterprise solutions, such as firewalls, SASE, ZTNA, and SD-WAN solutions, and they are in a leader quadrant.
The limitation of managing all components and the differing versions pose challenges.
If I need design help, they do not assist; they say it is a design issue they cannot support, and I must approach the system integrator.
The product is costly.
This solution is quite expensive compared to Kemp.
The impact of SSL offloading on reducing server load and latency is very much positive because whatever traffic we receive, we encrypt at our F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) level, which has definitely reduced the additional load and SSL decryption load on the servers, so it has very much helped us and it is very smooth; it will not take much time and will not impact our regular traffic.
One of the most beneficial features of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is its ability to identify compromised traffic and its capabilities in authentication.
When integrated with FortiAnalyzer, it has much more significance.
I use server load balancing and employ layer seven features, which provide more granular traffic shaping and detailed logs.
FortiADC provides load-balancing capabilities needed for integration with other Fortinet platforms.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) | 15.3% |
| Fortinet FortiADC | 9.8% |
| Other | 74.9% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 62 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 32 |
| Large Enterprise | 85 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 12 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 4 |
| Large Enterprise | 7 |
F5 BIG-IP LTM optimizes the speed and reliability of your apps via both network and application layers. Using real-time protocol and traffic management decisions based on app and server and connection management conditions, and TCP and content offloading, BIG-IP LTM dramatically improves application and infrastructure responsiveness. BIG-IP LTM's architecture includes protocol awareness to control traffic for the most important applications. BIG-IP LTM tracks the dynamic performance levels of servers and delivers SSL performance and visibility for inbound and outbound traffic, to protect the user experience by encrypting everything from the client to the server.
BIG-IP LTM provides enterprise-class Application Delivery Controller (ADC). You get granular layer 7 control, SSL offloading and acceleration capabilities, and advanced scaling technologies that deliver performance and reliability on-demand. The highly optimized TCP/IP stack combines TCP/IP techniques and improvements in the latest RFCs with extensions to minimize the effect of congestion and packet loss and recovery. Independent testing tools and customer experiences show LTM's TCP stack delivers up to a 2x performance gain for users and a 4x increase in bandwidth efficiency.
Fortinet FortiADC is a robust application delivery controller (ADC) that delivers application optimization, application security, and application availability. FortiADC is a valued offering from Fortinet, which is widely recognized as a trusted supplier of dynamic security solutions worldwide. FortiADC offers dynamic security functions (AV, DDoS, and WAF) in addition to advanced application connectors for a simplified deployment and complete transparency to an organization's networks and applications. FortiADC offers three primary deployment options: physical machine, virtual machine, (VM) and cloud solution options.
Fortinet FortiADC Benefits
Fortinet FortiADC Features
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