Learning Fortigate Firewall/Networking

Networking Networking Software
1

Hello,
I am currently just got a new job in IT after i went back to school to get a deeper education in IT. With focus on Network and Security. My curriculum was ccent/ccna + ccna Security, and some other “vendor neutral” curriculum.
My work evolves around Security, I can not go more into detail due to the NDA i signed.

At my new place of employment they are using Fortigate, I have no prior experience with Fortigate. I have asked the network department to get a “tour” of the network. But no luck there, I dont know why they are so resilient on giving me some information about how the network is setup, even tough my duties kinda require me to know how the network is setup.

Even tough I have no problem understanding the “terminology” and have no problems understanding the concepts used in networking, they seem reluctant letting me in to their network. Kinda frustrates me because then I have to call them when they are off work should anything network related emerge…Kinda counter productive u ask me but oh well i digress…

I am a learn by doing kinda person, so for be to get a insight in how things are setup is important for me to make sense if it and understand it, the last place i worked we had 750 users. Lets say this place is in an totally different league when it comes to users and size.

And the network is complex, for me its hard to understand how it all “fits” together without knowing how the network is setup. Or at least that is how I have previously learned how things works. What goes where and where the traffic is suppose to go and what else have you.

But that is not the case here, been asking for a breakthrough/guide/explanation for at least 3 months straight. So I have decided to take the maters in to my own hands, I want to learn how Fortigate operates. But this have proven to be harder than I essentially tough it would be. I cant seem to find any recent material on Fortigate, and the material I have found have been of a monotone dude on YT how i cant listen to without getting really depressed :(.

TLDR:
Any one here on this forum that knows how I can get my hands on some educational/information on Fortigate? Do fortigate have a emulator like Packet tracer (Cisco)?

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Hi there,
I’m a relatively inactive member of this forum but I would consider fortinet to be one of my more knowledgeable areas.
My first question to you would be to ask if you have been provided to the fortinet partner portal. If not I’d advise that you seek access to this; it full of training resources, both marketing and technical. I believe it goes by the name of the NSE program, where you can also complete certifications. Alternative to the partner portal, there is the Fortinet Cookbook
https://cookbook.fortinet.com .
In terms of hands on learning and familiarisation with fortigates, the way I did things was to buy a cheap unit from eBay which still supports current firmware (accessable from the partner portal) and practice everything I could. From flashing firmware to OSPF between the eventual second and thrid eBay units I purchased.
I feel that if your employer isn’t giving you traction when it comes to education and you have a genuine interest to learn, a home lab is the way to go.
Best wishes on your fortinet journey!
Tom.

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