Azure collects compute monitoring data by using agents

 The following table lists each agent:

AZURE COLLECTS COMPUTE MONITORING DATA BY USING AGENTS

Agent	Description	Notes
Azure Monitor Agent	Collects monitoring data from guest operating systems on VMs and delivers data to Azure Monitor logs and/or metrics	Over time, this agent will replace the Log Analytics Agent and Azure diagnostic extension listed below. While this agent introduces new capabilities, it does not support all the monitoring scenarios covered by earlier agents. You need to understand the tradeoffs before switching to the Azure Monitor agent.
Log Analytics agent	Collects logs and performance data for virtual machines in Azure, other clouds, or on-premises	Allows for the onboarding of Azure Monitor VM Insights, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, and Microsoft Sentinel. The agent also works with Azure Automation accounts to onboard Azure Update Management and Azure Automation State Configuration, along with Azure Automation Change Tracking and Inventory.
Azure diagnostics extension	Enables customers to receive extra data from guest operating systems and workloads living on compute resources	Data primarily captured with this extension will be sent to Azure Monitor Metrics. If necessary, this data could also be sent to a third-party tool by using Azure Event Hubs or sent to Azure Storage for archival. You could also collect boot diagnostics, which helps with investigations for virtual machine boot issues.
Dependency agent	Collects discovered data about certain processes running on virtual machines	Maps all dependencies between virtual machines and any external process dependencies.