Hardware switch

A hardware switch is a virtual switch interface that groups different ports together so that the FortiGate can use the group as a single interface. Supported FortiGate models have a default hardware switch called either internal or lan. The hardware switch is supported by the chipset at the hardware level.

Ports that are connected to the same hardware switch behave like they are on the same physical switch in the same broadcast domain. Ports can be removed from a hardware switch and assigned to another switch or used as standalone interfaces.

Some of the difference between hardware and software switches are:

Feature	Hardware switch	Software switch
Processing	Packets are processed in hardware by the hardware switch controller, or SPU where applicable.	Packets are processed in software by the CPU.
STP	Supported	Not Supported
Wireless SSIDs	Not Supported	Supported
Intra-switch traffic	Allowed by default.	Allowed by default. Can be explicitly set to require a policy.

To change the ports in a hardware switch in the GUI:

1. Go to Network > Interface and edit the hardware switch.
2. Click inside the Interface members field.

   

3. Select interfaces to add or remove them from the hardware switch, then click Close.

   To add an interface to a hardware switch, it cannot be referenced by an existing configuration and its IP address must be set to 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0.

4. Click OK.

   Removed interfaces will now be listed as standalone interfaces in the Physical Interface section.

To remove ports from a hardware switch in the CLI:

config system virtual-switch
    edit "internal"
        config port
            delete internal2
            delete internal5
            ...
        end
    next
end

To add ports to a hardware switch in the CLI:

config system virtual-switch
    edit "internal"
        set physical-switch "sw0"
        config port
            edit "internal1"
            next
            edit "internal3"
            next
            edit "internal4"
            next
            edit "internal6"
            next
        end
    next
end

To add an interface to a hardware switch, it cannot be referenced by an existing configuration and its IP address must be set to 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0.