The use of a cloud-based service like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or HP Public Cloud can provide metrics via their virtualization hypervisor to an API or Dashboard system, but these metrics are only part of the whole picture. The information provided is usually not all-encompassing and produced at intervals that do not lend themselves to the granularity desired when debugging performance issues. Agent-based monitoring offers faster results and higher resolution by providing direct submission methods, allowing for metrics like memory consumption by process and arriving in a matter of seconds. This type of monitoring also provides visibility under the hood, enabling users to see how the engine is working and what's consuming resources, which is essential for those who want to see detailed stats on what's running on their servers. Additionally, Datadog's Agent is fully open source, allowing users to read through every line of code before installation, with various deployment methods available for popular configuration management solutions.