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Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs NVIDIA Mellanox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
4.4
Fortinet FortiSwitch offers significant cost savings, enhanced security, and ease of deployment compared to competitors like Cisco and HPE.
Sentiment score
1.0
Users reported time and cost savings from NVIDIA Mellanox, highlighting improved performance, reduced latency, increased efficiency, scalability, and reliability.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.6
Fortinet FortiSwitch support receives mixed reviews, with commendable tier three service but issues in response speed and clarity.
Sentiment score
7.5
Customers desire multilingual NVIDIA Mellanox support, rating it satisfactory to good, while often relying on peer assistance.
They are knowledgeable, professional, and assist with any issues.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
It's a potential area for improvement, possibly in terms of response time or quality.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
My local support is working fine, and I have my connection with my account manager in the public company of Fortinet.
IT Director at Rabbit Mart
I would assess their technical support as good—not the best, but it is good.
CEO at Tekpulse Ltd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Fortinet FortiSwitch is praised for seamless scalability and integration, despite some pricing concerns, in both small and large networks.
Sentiment score
5.8
NVIDIA Mellanox's scalable leaf and spine architecture efficiently supports network growth for organizations across various sectors.
With uniform Fortinet FortiGate switches, adding or removing switches without reconfiguring individually is straightforward.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
The scalability level of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is strong.
Team Lead - Network and Security at Digitaltrack
You just need to connect another switch or replace the current one, and it integrates well with the existing setup.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.7
Fortinet FortiSwitch is praised for its stability, reliability, robust security, and minimal technical issues despite new market presence.
Sentiment score
5.8
Users are satisfied with NVIDIA Mellanox for its reliable performance and stability, with improvements noted over time.
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access demonstrates great stability and reliability aspects.
Team Lead - Network and Security at Digitaltrack
The tool is robust and lasts for three to four years without needing replacement.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
The stability has been good overall.
IT Director at Rabbit Mart
I would rate it a seven because the old versions were not stable, but it is becoming stable over time.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiSwitch needs better pricing, licensing, user interface, support, firmware clarity, security features, integration, stability, and scalability.
NVIDIA Mellanox needs improved user-friendliness, better integration, enhanced GUIs, faster support, and occasional bug fixes.
The machine is robust and lasts for years with rare technical issues.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
The introduction of AI integration could be valuable for detecting abnormal traffic directly on the switch.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I would appreciate the ability to create an independent switch.
Team Lead - Network and Security at Digitaltrack
I think it's okay; it's the best solution for now for AI data centers.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Fortinet FortiSwitch pricing high yet justifiable due to robust functionality, reliability, and fewer licensing requirements.
NVIDIA Mellanox offers competitive pricing, strong performance, and cost-effective licensing, making it a highly-rated, affordable enterprise solution.
It has increased by about two hundred percent over the past three years.
IT Director at Rabbit Mart
The initial cost of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is high compared to other options.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
For its performance, it's cheaper.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiSwitch integrates with FortiGate, offering seamless management, ease of deployment, advanced security features, and robust network visibility.
NVIDIA Mellanox excels in performance, flexibility, and integration with AI systems, making it ideal for data centers.
This centralized management saves time and ensures seamless scalability.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access has several features that I have found most valuable.
Team Lead - Network and Security at Digitaltrack
One of the main features is the integration with FortiGate.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The biggest advantage is that the vendor is the only one providing no-drop traffic.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secu...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NVIDIA Mellanox
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
20th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is 4.1%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NVIDIA Mellanox is 2.1%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access4.1%
NVIDIA Mellanox2.1%
Other93.8%
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Uri Harf - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
Integration with cloud management simplifies network expansion
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is expensive, and this initial cost can be a barrier, especially for new businesses setting up from scratch. Although the machine is robust and lasts for years with rare technical issues, the initial price can be high. Sometimes, I have to offer alternatives like Aruba or HP, which might be cheaper.
Nurudeen Suleiman - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Tekpulse Ltd
Automation and integration improve operations efficiently
We wanted to utilize the advanced InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions offered by NVIDIA, but the users are not too familiar with the InfiniBand environment, which is why we are using the Linux Cumulus 5.6, which is usually the normal Ethernet. I am familiar with NVIDIA Mellanox, as I have products from NVIDIA on review here on our website. I use enhanced multi-tenancy features. Currently, within the data center, we have mixtures of both Cisco Nexus switches, NVIDIA switches, and Huawei switches, so eventually, we are changing all the switches to NVIDIA. On a scale of 1-10, I rate NVIDIA Mellanox an eight.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

Which would you choose - Fortinet Fortiswitch secure access or Cisco Ethernet Switches?
We researched Cisco but ultimately chose Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access, mostly because of the price. Fortinet FortiSwitch is an ethernet switch solution that provides security and performance...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access?
With FortiSwitch, you can easily identify who is connected to each port, disable ports as needed, and retrieve configurations from FortiGate when required.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access?
The initial cost of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is high compared to other options. Although robust and rarely needs replacement, it can be overqualified for some jobs, which affects the re...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mellanox Switches?
The pricing is competitive. For its performance, it's cheaper, so I would rate it a four if cheaper is lower.
What needs improvement with Mellanox Switches?
The feature we would want to see in future updates of NVIDIA Mellanox is improved accessibility for normal users, as quite a lot of experience is needed before using Mellanox. None of the Mellanox ...
What is your primary use case for Mellanox Switches?
NVIDIA Mellanox is usually used for numerous purposes, but in our case, we are using it in a data center for high-end servers running 200 gig interfaces, and we are able to link it up with Ansible ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Mellanox Switches, Mellanox SN2700
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
CNPC, Korea Consumer Agency, Nutanix, Roxo Systems, StorPool, Atlantic.Net, INFN, StarWind, NYSE Technologies, Creative Consultants, ENKI
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs. NVIDIA Mellanox and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.