Explorer III

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FortiGate working mode

6 replies
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friends, a question, in which layer of the OSI model does the FortiGate firewall work?

I found this link which indicates that it works on all layers. That's true?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/qu%C3%A9-es-un-firewall-perimetral-y-tipos-hay-luis-florez-estrada/?originalSubdomain=es

FortiGate

Toshi_EsumiAnswer

SuperUser

I have some opposing opinions against this guy's post. Like saying "all layers on FortiGate". FortiSandbox is NOT a FortiGate. Separate Forti-somthing product. And so on and on.
But instead of fighting against a post by somebody who works for a company (probably using and/or selling Fortinet products), I would like to point you to below Fortinet's official explanation about this subject.

https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/osi-model

The OSI Model is just a networking model, which almost nobody implemented completely other than original demonstration by big computer companies in '70s. Still referenced and useful but the TCP/IP Model has become a de-fact standard and adopted by virtually everybody after '80s. But again, it's a networking model to connect main frame computers from different vendors a half century ago. The contemporary firewall concept like anti-virus, Intrusion protection, sandboxing, etc. wouldn't fit well to the model but go to application above the 7-layer network model. Or not so important if they fit any layers (who cares?).

Probably different people have different opinions about this rightfully.

Toshi

adambomb1219

SuperUser

1-7 yeah that's true

Toshi_EsumiAnswer

SuperUser

I have some opposing opinions against this guy's post. Like saying "all layers on FortiGate". FortiSandbox is NOT a FortiGate. Separate Forti-somthing product. And so on and on.
But instead of fighting against a post by somebody who works for a company (probably using and/or selling Fortinet products), I would like to point you to below Fortinet's official explanation about this subject.

https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/osi-model

The OSI Model is just a networking model, which almost nobody implemented completely other than original demonstration by big computer companies in '70s. Still referenced and useful but the TCP/IP Model has become a de-fact standard and adopted by virtually everybody after '80s. But again, it's a networking model to connect main frame computers from different vendors a half century ago. The contemporary firewall concept like anti-virus, Intrusion protection, sandboxing, etc. wouldn't fit well to the model but go to application above the 7-layer network model. Or not so important if they fit any layers (who cares?).

Probably different people have different opinions about this rightfully.

Toshi

unknown1020Author

Explorer III

Thank you very much friend, this link will help me.

Rosseto

New Member

I consider it a better term as it can work on all layers, for example layer 7 firewall IF YOU HAVE a license and registration in the Fortiguard cloud, but as far as the other layers are concerned, I understand that it fulfills the various aspects of a network element well, for connectivity, routing, transport, etc...

spoojary

Staff

The link you provided seems to discuss different types of firewalls and their capabilities. It's accurate that FortiGate and similar advanced firewalls can work across multiple layers of the OSI model. This ability to operate at different layers allows them to provide comprehensive security features such as packet filtering, stateful inspection, intrusion prevention, application control, and more.

In summary, FortiGate firewalls can indeed operate at multiple layers of the OSI model, and this capability enables them to offer a wide range of security functionalities to protect networks and data.

unknown1020Author

Explorer III

but here it says that it works in layer 7,3 and 4 https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/osi-model

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