Modes

FortiAnalyzer supports two log forwarding modes: forwarding (default), and aggregation.

Forwarding

Logs are forwarded in real-time or near real-time as they are received. Forwarded content files include: DLP files, antivirus quarantine files, and IPS packet captures.

This mode can be configured in both the GUI and CLI.

Aggregation

As FortiAnalyzer receives logs from devices, it stores them, and then forwards the collected logs at a specified time every day. To avoid duplication, the client only sends logs that are not already on the server.

FortiAnalyzer supports log forwarding in aggregation mode only between two FortiAnalyzer units. Syslog and CEF servers are not supported.

The client must provide super user log in credentials to get authenticated by the server to aggregate logs.

Aggregation mode can only be configured with the log-forward and log-forward-service CLI commands. See the FortiAnalyzer CLI Reference for more information.

The following table lists the differences between the two modes:

	Log Forwarding	Log Aggregation
Configuration Portal	GUI or CLI	CLI
Remote Server Type	FortiAnalyzer Syslog/CEF/Forward via Output Plugin	FortiAnalyzer
Device Filter Support	Yes	Yes
Log Filter Support	Yes	No
Log Archive Support	Yes	Yes
Server Port customization	Yes (Except for FortiAnalyzer)	No
Compression	Yes (FortiAnalyzer only)	No
Log Field Exclusion	Yes	No
Log Delay	Real-time (max 5 minutes delay)	Max 1 day
Log Data Masking	Yes	No
Meta-data synchronization	Yes	No
Secure channel support	Yes (SSL as reliable connection)	Yes (rsync + SSH)
Network bandwidth	Normal (as log traffic received)	Peak hour as aggregation starts to finish
Impact on remote FortiAnalyzer	Normal (as log volume received)	Potentially large table (If there is a mix of incoming real-time and real-time logs.)