Some deployments may require more than the default two network interfaces (external and internal) created by the Azure Marketplace template.
Always choose an Azure VM size that supports Accelerated Networking.
: FortiGate-VM uses Virtual Security Processing Units (vSPUs) to offload packet processing from the kernel, which can triple firewall throughput for UDP traffic. 2. Choosing the Right Azure Instance Family
uses Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) and Azure Functions to automatically add or remove FortiGate-VM instances based on real-time traffic metrics (e.g., CPU utilization, packet rate). It leverages FortiGate-native features like config-sync to synchronize configurations across all instances in the scale set. fortigate vm sizing azure
FortiGate for Azure comes in two primary licensing models: from the Azure Marketplace and Bring Your Own License (BYOL) . Each model offers different VM sizes, and Fortinet maps these to specific Azure instance types.
Always choose an Azure VM size that supports .
High compute performance per dollar, excellent for heavy SSL inspection and IPS. Some deployments may require more than the default
: This Azure feature is essential for high throughput. It offloads network processing to dedicated hardware (FPGA), significantly reducing latency and jitter. Ensure your chosen Azure size supports it.
– non-negotiable.
| Azure Instance Type | vCPU | Max NICs | Recommended BYOL License | |---|---|---|---| | Standard_F2 | 2 | 2 | FG-VM02 | | Standard_F4 | 4 | 4 | FG-VM04 | | Standard_F8 | 8 | 8 | FG-VM08 | | Standard_F16 | 16 | 8 | FG-VM16 | | Standard_F2s_v2 | 2 | 2 | FG-VM02 | | Standard_F4s_v2 | 4 | 2 | FG-VM04 | | Standard_F8s_v2 | 8 | 4 | FG-VM08 | | Standard_F16s_v2 | 16 | 4 | FG-VM16 | | Standard_F32s_v2 | 32 | 8 | FG-VM32 | | Standard_F64s_v2 | 64 | 8 | FG-VMUL | | Standard_F72s_v2 | 72 | 8 | FG-VMUL | FortiGate for Azure comes in two primary licensing
Sizing a FortiGate VM in Azure is equal parts art and science. The safe starting point for any production workload today (2025) is:
They provide more memory per vCPU than the F-series, making them incredibly stable against memory-related conserve mode issues.
Let’s walk through three actual customer examples.
FortiGate VM Sizing in Azure: A Comprehensive Guide for 2026