Buying used Fortigate - Do I need a Fortinet subscription?

[bawalker]

Good morning.

I just started as the IT director of a health center (and only IT employee for that matter) which runs a Fortigate 60F.  After having been making small adjustments on it, I am really growing in learning the Fortigate 60F interface.  To the point it's far easier to use than Sonicwalls and other's I've used.

My question, is it possible to purchase a used Fortigate on eBay or somewhere I can have for home as a learning tool ONLY, or does any Fortigate device I purchase need a paid subscription to Fortinet for it to simply function?  What about firmware downloads, does a device have to be registered too with a paid subscription before a used device can work?

If this is possible, what is the oldest Fortigate that I can get that would allow me to update to the same OS firmware levels that the 60F supports... or at least close to it?

My goal is to have a private sandbox at home where I can dive deep into the Fortigate OS interface and learn it more indepth than learning on the job.

I appreciate any input on this.

Thanks!

B.

[Admin_FTNT]

Bradley,

Fortinet support is only available for products which have been purchased directly from Fortinet authorized channels.  Products not purchased from Fortinet authorized channels are not eligible, and cannot be supported. This includes:

[ul]

Used products purchased through any second hand marketplace (including online stores and auction sites).[/ul][ul]

New products purchased through any marketplace (including online stores and auction sites) where the seller is not an authorized Fortinet partner.[/ul]

For more information please refer to the Fortinet Legal page.

[emnoc]

My question, is it possible to purchase a used Fortigate on eBay or somewhere I can have for home as a learning tool ONLY, or does any Fortigate device I purchase need a paid subscription to Fortinet for it to simply function?  What about firmware downloads, does a device have to be registered too with a paid subscription before a used device can work?

You need a support account and active subscription to get firmware updates. You do not need a subscription to have a working fortigate , but if you want support, av update,firmware you need a validate subscription and support access.

If this is possible, what is the oldest Fortigate that I can get that would allow me to update to the same OS firmware levels that the 60F supports... or at least close to it?  

FGT60F are new so the most devices that will support the latest 6.4.x are mainly E and F models and a few D models. If you want a sandbox, I would buy the same thing you have at the business, same model and run it at home.I would get the software release doc and read on the models.

Now the cheapest model would be maybe a 40F . Another option would a PAYGO image that you fire up as required to do you testing. If you want to get deeper , just buy a unit and use it at your home. Since your a director, you can write off to the company ;)

Ken Felix

[Yurisk]

Specifically for learning FGT the second-hand device may be not the optimal option. Mostly they are sold without any subscription available, which means you can't practice URL FIltering, DNS block lists, C&C, so you are left with Firewall, VPN, NAT features basically . In addition you cannot upgrade firmware (EULA compliantly) if you don't have support contract, and sellers mostly sell outdated firmware as they couldn't care less.  

For my labs I use either virtual image with built-in 14 days evaluation license ( as I can download images working for Fortinet partner) which also have no subscription based services, or paying per hour on Amazon AWS (1 FGT costs around 1-2$/hour) - there it comes with all subscriptions activated already. Third option is 60 days evaluation license from Fortinet which enables ALL features and subscriptions for virtual Fortigate, but you have to get it via your sales rep with Fortinet. 

The only advantage of playing with the hardware box is you can test all Layer 2 stuff - VLANs, LAGs , switching, which is not available with virtual images at the same level of capabilities.