What role does FortiGate play in Fortinet's Security Fabric?

FortiGate serves as the central hub for security operations within Fortinet's Security Fabric. Its primary function is to provide comprehensive security capabilities that integrate various Fortinet and third-party security solutions across the network. This integration allows organizations to have a unified view of their security posture, facilitating real-time threat intelligence sharing, automated responses, and coordinated actions against security incidents.

As the central unit, FortiGate can continuously analyze traffic and processes, manage policies, and provide insights through its security analytics features. This role is crucial as it helps eliminate data silos, ensuring all components within the Security Fabric can communicate and work together effectively to enhance overall protection and streamline security management.

Other roles mentioned, such as endpoint protection, physical layer security, or authentication, each have specific functions within the broader security ecosystem but do not encompass the holistic, centralized operational capabilities that FortiGate provides as part of the Security Fabric.