Version: FortiCloud 3.1
Release Date: 7th December 2016 10:00am PST
The production system has now been upgraded, 3.1 brings a number of changes to the overall functionality of the FortiCloud product to deliver a mature and functional cloud based management solution.
It should be clearly stated that the free functionality in version 3.0 has not changed and is still available. Version 3.1 brings with it a new Enterprise Management license for the Access Points to enable some advanced features and extend the log storage from 7 days to 1 year.
Key new general features for 3.1
The GUI has been significantly improved, navigation is now led by which device or wireless network is to be managed rather than the previous requirement to select the functional area and then the product.
Two factor authentication is now available as an extension of the free service. In the 'My Account' section simply tick the box and the credentials will be emailed to the account shown.
Multi Tenancy (previously called Premium License) has been renamed for clarity.
FAP Firmware Updates are now performed over https which will significantly speed up the process.
FAQ Has been updated for the new release.
New Features for FortiGate
Configuration Management - While this remains in Beta for the 3.1 release, there have been significant improvements. Existing configurations from a FortiGate can be uplifted into the cloud, modified and then redeployed.
New Features for FAP-C, FAP & FAP-S
The Enterprise Management license provides different levels of features dependant on the AP capability. The following list is cumulative - that is anything the FAP-C can do is included in the FAP and anything the FAP can do is included in the FAP-S.
FAP-C Enterprise License
Log Extension from 7 days to 1 year.
8x5 FortiCare included in the license.
FAP Enterprise License
Dynamic VLAN support via Radius Attributes.
Radio Rate control for all radio types (Optional/Basic/Disabled).
Intra SSID Blocking - prevents wireless clients talking to each other.
FAP-S Enterprise License
FortiGuard services subscription including A/V, Botnet, IPS, Web Access and Application Control.
Bonjour Relay - allows Bonjour announcements to be copied from originating to client VLANs.
Extended Logging of URL information for all sites rather than just exceptions. (Configurable)
The part numbers for the Enterprise license are as follows:
FC-10-90APS-170-02-12 - for the FAP-S series.
FC-10-90AP1-170-02-DD - for the FAP and FAP-C series.
A summary of the features with and without subscriptions are shown below:
FortiGate Analytics No Subscription With Subscription
Traffic and application visibility √ √
Hosted log retention 7 days 1 Year
Cloud provisioning √ √
Predefined reports √ √
Customized log retention √
Customized reports √
FortiCloud Sandbox No Subscription With Subscription
Daily file submission limit 100* up to 144k**
Detailed file analyses √ √
FortiCloud Sandbox DB subscription √
FortiAP Enterprise Management No Subscription With Subscription
7 day log retention √
1 year log retention & 8x5 FortiCare √
Enterprise Management Features √
FortiCare 8x5 Support √
FortiAP-C Enterprise Management No Subscription With Subscription
7 day log retention √
1 year log retention & 8x5 FortiCare √
FortiCare 8x5 Support √
FortiAP-S Enterprise Management No Subscription With Subscription
7 day log retention √
1 year log retention & 8x5 FortiCare √
Enterprise Management Features √
FortiGuard Subscription √
FortiCare 8x5 Support √
* 10 files per day for FortiOS 5.4.0 or below
** Vary from 7K per day to 144K per day depend on models
FortiCloud is now a significant competitor in the cloud space, just some of the USPs are as follows:
Free Tier - None of the major players in the cloud space offer an unlimited free tier of any sort
1 Year of Logs - This is unique in the cloud space - most companies just offer consolidated reporting over an extended time - if that!
UTM on the AP - This cannot be stressed enough - the FAP-S is an amazing breakthrough in secure WIFi - every other AP on the market offers some basic application visibility and some control, but the full UTM offered today by the FAP-S is class leading.
If you have not seen the FortiCloud recently then now is the time to look and be impressed.
