AWS WAF vs Fortinet: What are the differences?

Key Differences between AWS WAF and Fortinet

AWS WAF and Fortinet are both web application firewalls that help protect websites and applications from various types of attacks. While they serve the same purpose, there are some key differences between the two:

1. Deployment Model: AWS WAF is a cloud-native service provided by Amazon Web Services, which means it is fully integrated into the AWS ecosystem. It can be easily provisioned, managed, and scaled through AWS Console or APIs. On the other hand, Fortinet is an on-premises firewall solution that requires physical appliances or virtual machines to be deployed within the organization's network infrastructure.

2. Scalability and Elasticity: AWS WAF is designed to leverage the scalable and elastic nature of the cloud. It automatically scales based on demand and provides unlimited capacity for handling web traffic. With AWS WAF, organizations can easily handle sudden traffic spikes without any manual intervention. In contrast, Fortinet's scalability is limited to the capacity of the deployed appliances or virtual machines. It may require additional hardware or configuration changes to handle increased traffic.

3. Integration with Cloud Services: AWS WAF seamlessly integrates with other AWS services like Amazon CloudFront (content delivery network), AWS Application Load Balancer, and AWS Shield (DDoS protection). This integration enables automatic provisioning and configuration, as well as better visibility and control over web traffic. Fortinet, being an on-premises solution, may require additional configuration and integration steps to work with cloud services.

4. Managed Rules and Threat Intelligence: AWS WAF offers managed rules and threat intelligence, which includes a set of pre-configured rules to detect and block common web application attacks. These rules are regularly updated by AWS to stay up-to-date with evolving threats. Fortinet also provides pre-configured security profiles and signatures to protect against known threats, but the update process may involve more manual steps and maintenance effort.

5. Cost Structure: AWS WAF adopts a pay-as-you-go pricing model based on the number of web requests, making it suitable for organizations with fluctuating web traffic. The cost scales automatically with the demand. Fortinet typically follows a traditional licensing model, where upfront costs are involved for hardware or virtual appliances, along with additional licensing fees based on the required capacity or features.

6. Management and Monitoring Capabilities: AWS WAF provides a comprehensive management console, API, and CloudWatch integration for monitoring and management purposes. It offers detailed logs, metrics, and alerting mechanisms to track and analyze web traffic patterns and security incidents. Fortinet also offers management and monitoring tools, but they may not have the same level of integration and ease of use as the AWS ecosystem.

In summary, AWS WAF and Fortinet differ in deployment model, scalability, integration with cloud services, managed rules and threat intelligence, cost structure, and management capabilities. AWS WAF is a highly scalable and cloud-native service tightly integrated with the AWS ecosystem, while Fortinet offers on-premises solutions with a traditional licensing model.