Both hardware and software switches are used to allow ports to be grouped together and treated as a single interface. The main difference between the two types of switches is that hardware switches use the underlying switch chip/driver to handle all of the switching directly, while software switches do this in the FortiOS software.

The two types of switches also have differences in which commands and features are available, which vary depending on your FortiGate’s model. In most situations, using a hardware switch is preferred for better performance, with software switches used in cases where a feature is required that is unavailable for a hardware switch.

For more information about creating hardware and software switches, please refer to the System Administration handbook.