TheFortiNAC-F Manager (FortiNAC-M)is designed as a centralized management platform for large-scale distributed environments where multiple FortiNAC-F Control and Application (CA) appliances are deployed across different sites. According to theFortiNAC-F Manager Administration Guide, the deployment of a Manager simplifies administrative overhead in three specific ways:
First, it providesGlobal Version Control (B). The Manager serves as a central repository for firmware and software updates, allowing administrators to push specific versions to all managed CAs simultaneously, ensuring consistency across the entire fabric. Second, it enablesPooled Licenses (D). Instead of purchasing and managing individual licenses for every CA, licenses are centralized on the Manager. The Manager then distributes these licenses to the CAs as needed based on their host counts. This " floating " license model optimizes cost and prevents individual sites from running out of capacity while others have excess. Third, it offersGlobal Visibility (E). The Manager aggregates host and device data from every managed CA into a single console. This " single pane of glass " allows an administrator to search for a specific MAC address or user across the entire global organization without logging into individual servers.
While the Manager can assist with configuration templates, authentication security policies (C) and infrastructure modeling (A) are still predominantly managed at the local CA level to ensure site-specific logic and performance.
" The FortiNAC Manager provides a central management console for multiple FortiNAC-F servers (CAs). Key benefits include: •License Management: Licenses are pooled on the Manager and allocated to managed CAs as needed. •Software Management: Firmware updates can be centrally managed and pushed to all CAs from the Manager. •Centralized Monitoring: Provides a global view of all hosts, adapters, and events across the entire managed environment. " —FortiNAC-F Manager Administration Guide: Overview and Benefits.
