FortiGate: General Overview
FortiGate is generally Fortinet's flagship product line: next-generation firewall (NGFW) appliances available in physical and virtual form factors. Here's a general, plain-language explanation of what that category of device typically does.
Traffic filtering
Inspects and controls network traffic based on defined security policies, similar in concept to a traditional firewall but with deeper inspection capabilities.
Deep packet inspection
Looks beyond basic traffic headers to identify applications and threats hidden inside encrypted or complex traffic.
Integrated threat intelligence
Uses subscription-based threat intelligence feeds (commonly referred to as FortiGuard services) to keep detection current against emerging threats.
Physical vs. virtual appliances
FortiGate is generally available both as dedicated physical hardware appliances (sized for different throughput needs) and as a virtual appliance (FortiGate-VM) that runs within a private or public cloud environment. Which form factor fits depends heavily on existing infrastructure, expected traffic volume, and deployment location.
Where it typically sits in a network
A FortiGate device commonly sits at a network boundary — between an internal network and the internet, or between network segments — inspecting traffic that crosses that boundary according to configured security policies.
This is general educational information about the FortiGate product category, not sizing guidance or configuration instructions for a specific deployment. Consult Fortinet's official documentation or an authorized partner for deployment-specific guidance.