The SMB firewall segment is the most competitive in the market. These models handle 10-50 users. Based on official datasheets.
Spec Comparison — Official Datasheets
| Spec | FG-50G | FG-60F | PA-450 | XGS 126 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firewall Throughput | 5 Gbps | 10 Gbps | 8.4 Gbps | 9 Gbps |
| IPS Throughput | 2.25 Gbps | 1.4 Gbps | 1.3 Gbps | 1.25 Gbps |
| NGFW Throughput | 1.25 Gbps | 1 Gbps | — | — |
| SSL Inspection | 1.3 Gbps | 630 Mbps | — | — |
| Concurrent Sessions | 720K | 700K | 512K | — |
| IPsec VPN | 4.5 Gbps | 6.5 Gbps | 2.2 Gbps | 1.2 Gbps |
| Form Factor | Desktop | Desktop | Desktop | Desktop |
Official Datasheet References (downloaded PDFs):
FortiGate 30G Official Datasheet |
FortiGate 40F Official Datasheet |
FortiGate 100F Official Datasheet |
Palo Alto PA-400 Series Official Datasheet |
Palo Alto Enterprise Product Summary
All values “up to”. Sources: Fortinet FG-50G/60F official datasheets, Palo Alto PA-450 specs, Sophos XGS 126 specifications.
FG-50G vs FG-60F
The FG-50G (FortiSP5 7nm) surprisingly outperforms the FG-60F in IPS (2.25 vs 1.4 Gbps) and SSL inspection (1.3 vs 0.63 Gbps). The 60F wins on raw firewall (10 vs 5 Gbps) and VPN (6.5 vs 4.5 Gbps). Best choice: FG-50G for SSL-heavy deployments, FG-60F for VPN-heavy or higher-throughput environments.
Palo Alto PA-450
8.4 Gbps firewall, 1.3 Gbps IPS — close to the FG-60F. However, the PA-450 costs approximately $4,000-5,000 fully loaded vs ~$1,200 for an FG-60F bundle. The PA-450 offers Palo Alto’s App-ID and User-ID.
Sophos XGS 126
9 Gbps firewall, 1.25 Gbps IPS — competitive with both FortiGate models on paper. However, Sophos VPN throughput (1.2 Gbps) is significantly lower than FG-60F (6.5 Gbps).
Verdict
FG-60F remains the gold standard SMB firewall. FG-50G is technically better for SSL inspection. PA-450 is premium at 3-4x cost.