Fortinet FortiSwitch 424E Fiber FortiCare Elite Support, 5-Year (FC-10-S424I-284-02-60)

When a FortiSwitch 424E-Fiber is wired into a building’s fiber backbone, it typically stays there for five or more years. FC-10-S424I-284-02-60 matches that deployment horizon precisely, covering the switch under Fortinet’s highest support tier for the full 60-month period and eliminating four annual renewal events. For organizations planning infrastructure stability over a capital cycle, the 5-year term is the lowest-overhead support option over the switch’s expected service life.

What it covers

FortiCare Elite (service code 284) delivers 24×7 TAC access by phone and online portal, Next Business Day hardware replacement, advanced RMA handling, and a designated account support team for five consecutive years. With a 5-year contract, Fortinet’s system recognizes the switch as continuously covered, so any TAC case opens at Elite priority without requiring an agent to verify renewal status first. Elite exceeds FortiCare Premium (247) by adding enhanced SLA commitments and a named escalation path that stays consistent across the entire 60-month window. Coverage applies to the FS-424E-Fiber hardware unit registered at activation; the FortiGate managing it via FortiLink requires its own separate contract.

Who needs it

Enterprises with 5-to-7-year hardware depreciation schedules align support contracts to asset life rather than annual budget windows. Facilities running fiber aggregation switches in MDFs, inter-building distribution layers, or data center access tiers are the core buyers: these switches are infrastructure, not frequently refreshed edge devices. The 5-year term is particularly useful when procurement, finance, and IT operations need to close a capital project with support costs committed in a single purchase order, rather than re-approving a renewal each year.

Activation & delivery

FC-10-S424I-284-02-60 is an electronic license with worldwide delivery. Fortinet emails the license key after order processing, typically within one business day. Activation in the FortiCare portal registers 60 months of Elite entitlement against the FS-424E-Fiber serial number from the activation date. No physical component is shipped; the license is available to customers globally without geographic restriction.

One service vs the bundle

This SKU is a standalone FortiCare Elite support contract covering TAC, hardware replacement, and RMA only. No FortiGuard security subscription is included; security policy on the FortiSwitch 424E-Fiber is enforced by the FortiGate controller via FortiLink, and those subscriptions are managed on the controller. Over a 5-year window, keeping switch support and FortiGate security licensing on separate contracts gives each its own renewal trigger, which prevents a switch support renewal from being bundled into a larger and potentially more complex FortiGate licensing event.

Buying from DataCenter360.ca

As an authorized Fortinet Select Partner, DataCenter360.ca can process FC-10-S424I-284-02-60 with a single purchase order and deliver the license key directly after Fortinet activation. A 5-year commitment on a fiber switch is often part of a broader infrastructure refresh; if your project covers multiple FS-424E-Fiber units, the DataCenter360.ca team can quote them together with coordinated activation dates so all switches in the fleet expire at the same time. Contact DataCenter360.ca to request a bundled quote or to ask about volume pricing on multi-unit orders.

Frequently asked questions