AgFiniti: Beyond the Cloud
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Since the beginning of time, clouds have been a topic of conversation among farmers – at least in the context of Mother Nature. But a new type of “cloud” has recently taken over the conversation. This cloud, just like the weather, is a gamechanger for the agriculture industry. Still, many questions about the cloud exist.
What is a cloud?
Oxford English Dictionary says, “a cloud is a visible mass of condensed water vapor floating in the atmosphere.” You might be thinking, “That's where my farming data is going? Confusing, isn’t it? But, rest assured, your data won’t be raining down to earth the next time a storm rolls in because it’s not in a cloud, it’s in “the cloud,” Or, better defined by Oxford English Dictionary as, “A network of remote servers hosted on the Internet and used to store, manage, and process data in place of local servers or personal computers.”
Instead of storing your data on the hard drive of your computer, it’s securely stored on a network of servers often located in data centers. These data centers, located across the country and around the world, were built especially to house data in a safe, secure environment. Unlike your hard drive, you can access your data on these servers from anywhere you have Internet access.
Is my data safe in the cloud?
Tony Houseman, IT operations supervisor at Ag Leader, said, “There are a few key reasons cloud storage is safer and more reliable than storing all your data on a conventional server. Cloud storage providers sole responsibility is to store and protect data for others. Therefore, they can invest more into the areas of resiliency, encryption, authentication and authorization, since it is so vital to their business. Additionally, cloud storage providers replicate their data and services across multiple data centers located throughout the world. Doing that improves uptime and performance for their customers because they ‘talk’ to systems closer to their location.”
Who has access to my data?
Perhaps the bigger question is: If I store my field data in the cloud, who has access to it? Especially when it comes to protecting information about your operation, it is important to investigate the policy of the company you are working with. When it comes to AgFiniti®, Ag Leader’s cloud-based platform, the data stored is 100 percent yours. Ag Leader is not in the business of selling seed or chemicals and has no ulterior motives or rights to access your data.
Because of the value data can provide to your operation, it's important to have the technology to gather field data, and a way to securely store and access it when you need to. Ag Leader is in the business of helping you manage your data so you can make profit-driven management decisions.
Why should I consider using the cloud?
The cloud is all about convenience. This tool was made to make your life easier. Before the cloud, when data needed to be transferred from one device to another, growers had to put it on a data storage device and carry it to a desktop or tablet to transfer the data. If the data storage device is misplaced or broken, the data is lost. The cloud eliminates that possibility. Now you can wirelessly transfer the data from the display in your cab and save it to the cloud without the risk of misplacing it. Plus, by saving your data to the cloud, you can access it any time and anywhere from your tablet, smartphone or desktop computer. And you can choose to easily share information with or access remote support from your dealer or other trusted advisors to get the most out of your precision farming data.
Want more info? Visit the AgFiniti page on our website.