Application-level firewalls are generally more or less resource-intensive than traditional firewalls?

Application-level firewalls are generally more resource-intensive than traditional firewalls. This is because they operate at a higher level of the OSI model, specifically at the application layer, where they need to inspect the content of data packets in detail. This deep packet inspection allows them to analyze the data being transmitted, which requires additional processing power and memory.

Traditional firewalls, on the other hand, typically work at lower layers of the OSI model (such as the network or transport layers) and primarily focus on filtering traffic based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols. This means they do not require the same level of resources since they perform less complex operations compared to application-level firewalls.

In summary, application-level firewalls demand more resources due to their comprehensive analysis capabilities, while traditional firewalls handle traffic more simply and efficiently, leading to lower resource consumption.