Introduction
Modern enterprises face a critical visibility challenge: their applications depend on an ever-expanding web of service connections - both across team boundaries within an organization (east-west) and to external third-party services (north-south). As organizations scale, they accumulate hundreds of undocumented dependencies, each introducing potential:
Security risks from unmonitored data flows
Reliability issues from unpredictable dependencies
Operational blind spots complicating troubleshooting
Compliance gaps in sensitive data handling
Hidden costs from inefficient service usage
Traditional Monitoring Falls Short
Existing tools operate far from where connections originate, creating critical visibility gaps:
No Process Context: They can't identify which specific processes are making calls
Missing Identity: They lose essential context about service identity
Encryption Blindness: They only see traffic after encryption, if at all
Limited Payload Insight: They lack visibility into the actual data being transmitted
This leads to a fundamental problem: organizations don't truly know what's flowing between their services or why.
A Process-Aware Approach
Qpoint takes a fundamentally different approach by operating directly at the source of each connection. Using lightweight eBPF agents, we provide unprecedented visibility into all service traffic where it matters most – at its origin.
Process-Level Intelligence
Traditional monitoring solutions often struggle to provide detailed context about service interactions. Qpoint addresses this limitation by offering comprehensive process attribution for every connection, whether to internal or external services. Our solution identifies exactly which processes initiate connections while maintaining complete service context and identity. This extends to detailed container and pod-level information, providing a complete understanding of all service communication patterns.
Visibility at the Source
By operating where connections originate, Qpoint can:
See and analyze traffic before encryption occurs
Provide detailed payload visibility without certificate management
Maintain service identity throughout the connection lifecycle
Offer this deep visibility without any application changes
Key Capabilities
1. Comprehensive Service Connection Discovery
Automatic discovery of all service dependencies (both internal and external)
Real-time inventory of connections across distributed environments
Identification of undocumented integrations and unknown endpoints
2. Pre-Encryption Traffic Visibility
Observes requests/responses before TLS encryption—no certificates or proxies needed
Captures headers, payload metadata, and errors for deep troubleshooting
Provides insights without breaking encryption or security models
3. Process-Level Attribution
Links each connection to the specific application, service, or container
Pinpoints which process is calling which service in real time
Maps dependencies across team and organizational boundaries
4. Reliability, Cost & Usage Analytics
Monitors SLA compliance, error rates, and performance metrics across all services
Tracks API calls by service/team to optimize usage and manage costs
Identifies performance bottlenecks and reliability issues
5. Security & Compliance Enforcement
Detects sensitive data in traffic to prevent unauthorized disclosures
Delivers full audit trails for internal and external connections
Enables zero-trust policies for service-to-service communication
6. Zero-Impact Deployment
Lightweight eBPF agent on Linux (no kernel modifications, minimal overhead)
No architectural changes, no proxy re-routing, no code instrumentation required
Seamless integration with existing monitoring and security tools
Why This Matters
This process-level visibility fundamentally transforms how organizations understand and manage their service dependencies:
Development Teams: See exactly how your services interact with other teams' services and external APIs
Platform Teams: Map and understand the true connection landscape across your entire organization
Security Teams: Track which applications are communicating with what, both internally and externally
Operations Teams: Attribute performance issues and costs to specific services and processes
Compliance Teams: Trace sensitive data flows to their source across all service boundaries
Qpoint's Unique Position
Qpoint serves as a vital complement to existing infrastructure by adding a critical layer of process-aware visibility that was previously unattainable. By operating at the connection source, we occupy a unique position where we can:
See the actual data before encryption
Identify the specific process making each call
Maintain full service context across all boundaries
Provide this without requiring certificate management or application modifications
Not Just Another Security or Monitoring Tool
Qpoint isn't:
A replacement for your perimeter firewall
A traditional network monitoring solution
An APM tool focused solely on application performance
A service mesh requiring extensive architecture changes
Instead, Qpoint provides surgical visibility at the source of your traffic, enabling teams to understand all service interactions with unprecedented clarity and context - whether those connections cross team boundaries within your organization or extend to external third-party services.
Technical Differentiators
No-Code Integration: Eliminates the need to instrument or modify applications
Process Awareness: Goes beyond IP-level monitoring to attribute every service call to its originating process
Pre-Encryption Access: Maintains full TLS security while enabling deep packet visibility
Boundary-Crossing Visibility: Tracks connections across all organizational and external boundaries
Low Overhead: Kernel-level eBPF technology ensures minimal performance impact
Getting Started
Ready to gain visibility into your service connections? Choose the path that matches your situation:
Choose Your Path
First time exploring Qpoint?
Start with the concepts to understand how eBPF-based visibility works:
How It Works - Technical deep dive into eBPF and TLS visibility (10 min read)
Architecture Overview - Understand the complete system architecture (5 min read)
Qplane vs Qtap: Choosing Your Deployment - Decide between cloud-managed and self-managed
Then choose your deployment path below based on your needs.
Need to debug a production issue RIGHT NOW?
Production Debugging with HTTPS Visibility →
30-second to 5-minute setup for urgent troubleshooting. Get immediate visibility without permanent installation.
Use this when you need to:
Debug authentication failures (401/403 errors) immediately
Investigate API integration issues in production
See inside HTTPS traffic without certificates or proxies
No permanent installation or configuration required
Want a managed solution with centralized dashboards?
Get from zero to insights in 10 minutes with Qplane's cloud control plane.
Choose Qplane if you want:
Centralized dashboard for multi-environment visibility
Automatic configuration propagation across agents
Team collaboration and role-based access
Managed control plane (no infrastructure to maintain)
Need full control with self-managed configuration?
Complete Guide: From Hello World to Production (Qtap) →
Progressive 4-level tutorial (50 minutes total) for standalone Qtap deployment with YAML configuration.
Choose Qtap if you want:
Full control via version-controlled YAML files
Air-gapped or isolated environments
Data sovereignty (all data stays in your infrastructure)
Maximum flexibility and customization
Alternative Qtap quick starts:
5-Minute Quickstart - Fast preview with stdout logging
All Qtap Guides - Browse all tutorials and integration guides
Not Sure Which Path to Choose?
"I need visibility NOW for a production issue"
Production Debugging (30 seconds)
"I want to try Qpoint with minimal setup"
POC Kick Off Guide (Qplane, 10 min)
"I need data to stay in my infrastructure"
Complete Guide (Qtap, 50 min)
"I'm evaluating for enterprise deployment"
Start with Choosing Your Deployment, then Complete Guide
"I want to understand the technology first"
How It Works → Architecture → Choose path above
What's the Difference Between Qplane and Qtap?
Qtap is the lightweight eBPF agent that captures traffic on your hosts. It can run standalone (configured via YAML) or connected to Qplane.
Qplane is the cloud-managed control plane that provides centralized configuration, dashboards, and multi-environment management for your Qtap agents.
Learn more: Choosing Your Deployment: Qplane vs Qtap
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