Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center and Ubiquiti UniFi Switches compete in the networking solutions market. Fortinet FortiSwitch has an advantage in security and scalability, while Ubiquiti UniFi is favored for its affordability and ease of use.
Features: Fortinet FortiSwitch provides comprehensive security integrations, high-performance capabilities, and extensive control in data centers. Ubiquiti UniFi Switches are known for seamless integration within their ecosystem, centralized management, and open configuration options.
Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiSwitch could enhance its ease of deployment, user interface, and offer more flexible pricing options. Ubiquiti UniFi Switches can improve advanced configuration capabilities, support for more complex networking needs, and offer better technical support documentation.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Ubiquiti UniFi Switches offer a simple plug-and-play setup with easy management through a centralized dashboard, minimizing the need for extensive technical support. Fortinet FortiSwitch, however, involves a more complex deployment process due to its advanced features, often requiring specialized knowledge but improving network security.
Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiSwitch involves higher installation costs, delivering significant ROI via premium security and network control features in large operations. Ubiquiti UniFi Switches are budget-friendly, offering lower initial costs with adequate ROI, especially attractive to small businesses and cost-conscious environments.
The integration of Fortinet infrastructure, including FortiSwitches, is cost-effective compared to Cisco, especially when paired with Fortinet wireless solutions.
Another solution offered to us was more than double the price, making UniFi a cost-effective choice.
We saw a return on investment within a year, although I believe there's more potential to be leveraged.
Technical partners provide responses within a day for any technical queries.
Customer support needs improvement in terms of speed and reliability.
On a scale from one to 10, I would rate the technical support of Fortinet an eight.
The team is knowledgeable and efficient.
the manuals, installation videos, and resources on the website are very good and straightforward.
They have a large customer base that sometimes faces issues due to a lack of know-how in managing the devices.
When used in a dedicated Fortinet infrastructure, FortiSwitch scalability is better than some other switches, like Cisco, Meraki, or Arista.
Scalability is generally good, with transitions from gigabit to ten giga, twenty-five giga, and forty giga.
I rate the scalability as nine out of ten.
If planning for future scalability, choosing switches that support extra modules for fiber optics is advisable.
While we are satisfied with its use in small environments, other products may be needed in very large companies with more than 30 users.
There is room for improvement as it sometimes takes over an hour to push configurations onto the devices from the management tool.
I did not experience any problems the whole year.
The switches are stable and there have been no outages.
If the system is installed, it runs well, with no issues.
Sometimes, customer support does not provide prompt assistance, leaving projects hanging.
There is room to improve the integration between FortiSwitch and other third-party solutions, as challenges arise when integrating with different vendors.
The commercial aspect presents challenges, particularly with pricing, as customers often ask for Juniper or Cisco, brands they are more aware of, which makes awareness about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center another weak point.
The choice depends on the network architecture and planning for the future scalability requirements.
The current setup is closed and does not allow for integration with non-Ubiquiti VoIP devices or providers outside their ecosystem.
Controlling and reducing network traffic directly from the controller would be beneficial.
The Fortinet switches come with no additional cost as they are open source, with only hardware warranties applicable.
Pricing is competitive, although it's not the cheapest option.
Our investment in Ubiquiti is about £30,000, and it's a cost-effective solution since there is no subscription fee.
Ubiquiti UniFi Switches are cost-effective, offering similar performance and features as higher-priced alternatives like Cisco or Ruckus.
Pricing is very favorable, with minimal licensing involved.
This feature allows the switch's ports to be used as firewall ports, enhancing network security by enabling IPS and network profiling directly on the ports.
It allows me to create VLANs, implement security measures, and push configurations using a single tool.
The main actual benefit that Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center brought to my customer's environment is secure connectivity while minimizing downtime from unexpected traffic or broadcasting.
The switches enable management from anywhere using the cloud controller, making configuration changes and management easier.
I can manage user connectivity, limit bandwidth, apply MAC address filtering, and it offers POE capabilities.
One of the most valuable features of Ubiquiti UniFi switches is their graphical interface and plug-and-play capability.
With 10 or 40 GE access ports and a high-throughput backbone, FortiSwitch Data Center Switches are ideal for the top-of-rack (ToR) server or firewall-aggregation applications. The high-speed switching fabric is also well suited for enterprise network core or backbone network installations.
Ubiquiti UniFi Switches are managed Gigabit switches (Available with 24 or 48 RJ45 Gigabit ports) designed to meet all your network needs while delivering excellent performance. The switches’ excellent network performance is combined with fiber connectivity that includes two SFP ports and the ability to process traffic without putting packet loss at risk.
Ubiquiti UniFi Switches Are:
Ubiquiti UniFi Switches Support These Three Output Modes:
Ubiquiti UniFi Switches Support These Three Input Modes:
Ubiquiti UniFi Switches Features:
Benefits of Ubiquiti UniFi Switches:
Reviews from Real Users
A PeerSpot user who is a Director of Technical Operations/CTO at a consultancy says "The ability to deploy quickly and then having one central location for all the settings are its most valuable aspects."
"The integration with the controller is one of the most valuable features of these switches. They are also very stable. For example, we have some equipment that we haven't touched for four years that is still reliable," says Doru I., Senior solutions architect at Aplix Technologies
Murali S., Management Consultant at a consultancy, explains that “For the world where you have to balance traffic and traffic loads and bandwidth, their GUI makes it really easy because the switches, though they are enterprise grade level two or level three switches, the GUI is designed so that it's easy to set up VLANs where you need to control your traffic so that your phones don't break up and get choppy because of other people loading the network down too heavily."
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