FortiGate VM

Why do you need FortiGate VM?

94% of organizations use multi-cloud, but only 41% have consistent security policies. Competitors’ virtual appliances lose performance with encryption. Different tools for on-prem and cloud create silos and security gaps.

FortiGate VM is a virtual NGFW with the same FortiOS as physical devices. vSPU acceleration ensures performance comparable to hardware. Consistent policies between on-premise and all cloud providers.

How does it work?

vSPU Acceleration

Software-optimized processing:

• Virtual Security Processing Unit
• Optimized for Intel/AMD
• SR-IOV and DPDK support
• 3-5x performance vs competition
• SSL/TLS acceleration

Multi-Cloud Deployment

Native cloud integration:

• AWS - Marketplace, Transit Gateway
• Azure - vWAN, Virtual WAN
• GCP - Compute Engine, GKE
• OCI - Oracle Cloud native
• Terraform/CloudFormation templates

FortiOS Foundation

Identical OS with on-prem:

• Same FortiOS features
• Same policy syntax
• FortiGuard services
• Single management with FortiManager
• Consistent security posture

Key Features

Full NGFW Capabilities

• Stateful firewall
• Application control
• IPS/IDS
• Antivirus/antimalware
• Web filtering
• SSL inspection

Cloud Integration

• Native API integration
• Auto-scaling groups
• Load balancer support
• SDN connectors
• Tag-based policies

SD-WAN & ZTNA

• Software-defined WAN
• Application steering
• ZTNA access proxy
• VPN concentrator
• Branch connectivity

Visibility & Control

• Cloud workload protection
• East-west traffic inspection
• Microsegmentation
• Kubernetes/container support
• FortiAnalyzer integration

FortiGate VM Models

vCPU-Based Licensing:

Model	vCPU	RAM	Throughput	Use Case
VM00	1	Unlimited	12 Gbps	Dev/test
VM01	1	Unlimited	12 Gbps	Small branch
VM02	2	Unlimited	15 Gbps	Branch/SMB
VM04	4	Unlimited	28 Gbps	Mid-size
VM08	8	Unlimited	33 Gbps	Enterprise
VM16	16	Unlimited	36 Gbps	Large DC
VM32	32	Unlimited	50 Gbps	Hyperscale
VMUL	Unlimited	Unlimited	50+ Gbps	Maximum

Supported Platforms:

• Microsoft Hyper-V
• KVM/QEMU
• Nutanix AHV
• Citrix XenServer
• OpenStack

Licensing Models

BYOL (Bring Your Own License):

• Purchased through Fortinet/Partner
• Portable across clouds
• Predictable costs
• Best for steady workloads

PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go):

• Marketplace billing
• Hourly/monthly rates
• Flex for variable workloads
• Easy procurement

Who is it for?

• Organizations with multi-cloud strategy
• Enterprise migrating workloads to cloud
• DevOps teams needing automated security
• Hybrid environments with consistent policy requirements

Benefits

For IT: Same FortiOS skills, single management, cloud-native deployment

For security: Consistent policies, FortiGuard protection, full NGFW in cloud

For business: Flexible licensing, reduced cloud security TCO, faster time-to-deployment

Specification

OS	FortiOS (identical to appliance)
Platforms	Hyper-V, KVM, AWS, Azure, GCP
Throughput	Up to 50+ Gbps
Licensing	BYOL, PAYG

FAQ

How does FortiGate VM differ from FortiGate CNF? FortiGate VM is self-managed VM in your infrastructure. CNF is fully managed service by Fortinet in AWS.

What performance does FortiGate VM achieve? Up to 50+ Gbps for VMUL. vSPU acceleration provides 3-5x better performance than competition.

Does FortiGate VM have all FortiOS features? Yes. Identical FortiOS with appliance - firewall, SD-WAN, ZTNA, IPS, antivirus, web filtering.

Which cloud platforms are supported? AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, Alibaba Cloud. Plus Hyper-V, KVM, Nutanix on-prem.

How does licensing work? BYOL (portable license) or PAYG (marketplace billing). FortiGuard services as subscription.

Can I use FortiManager for VM? Yes. Single pane of glass for FortiGate appliances and VM in hybrid environment.

How does auto-scaling work? Native integration with AWS Auto Scaling, Azure VMSS, GCP MIG. Terraform modules available.

Does FortiGate VM support Kubernetes? Yes. FortiGate VM as ingress controller or FortiGate CNF for container workloads.

How to move license between clouds? BYOL licenses are portable. Deactivate in one cloud, activate in another.

What does support look like? Fortinet 24/7 TAC for FortiGate VM. nFlo offers cloud security architecture and migration services.