CADE vs PuE / DCiE

CADE (Corporate Average Data center Efficiency) is a metric used to rate the overall energy efficiency of an organization's data centers. CADE was introduced in a joint report from the Uptime Institute and McKinsey that proposed the metric as a single key performance indicator that could be used to compare the energy consumption of one data center against another. CADE combines measurements of the energy efficiency and utilization of IT equipment and facilities into a single percentage. A higher CADE indicates a more energy efficient data center.

The formula for CADE is:

CADE = Facility Efficiency (FE) x Asset Efficiency (AE)

• Facility Efficiency (FE) is equal to (Facility Energy Efficiency) x (Facility Utilization)
• Asset Efficiency (AE) is equal to (IT Energy Efficiency) x (IT utilization)
  

CADE can be used to:

• Monitor data center performance.
• Measure how one organization's data centers compare to a competitor's IT operations.
• Gauge the return on investment (ROI) on a green computing initiative.
  

Critics of CADE point out that the metric doesn't accurately reflect utilitisation gains made by removing downed servers or address the utilitisation or energy efficiency of outsourced servers at hosting providers. If widely adopted by operators and external regulators, however, CADE could serve a similar purpose in the IT operations of the world's corporations as the mandatory CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards do in the automobile industry.

Fannie Mae Virus Scare

I came across this interesting news and I think there is a warning here, particularly in these times of global financial uncertainty, job losses, and personal financial hardship.

The message is quite clear in respect to being more vigilant with physical data centre and application data security to ensure the business is not exposed to disgruntled persons that find themselves on the wrong end of staff reductions.

Make sure that your security processes and procedures are clearly defined and administered diligently. Ensure that staff exit procedures are thorough and that system checks are performed to address any abnormalities.

It was reported that a computer engineer for Fannie Mae's Urbana data centre in Maryland, USA was fired and allegedly on the same day of his release he loaded a Unix script on the main administrative server. The script was programmed to remain dormant for three months, when it would greet administrators with a login message that read "Server Graveyard". The rogue programme would then systematically replace all data with zeros on every production, administrative, and backup server in the company, designed to destroy millions of dollars worth of information.

By fortune, a Fannie Mae engineer stumbled across the script and it was reported before the script could take affect.

Rajendrasinh Babubahai Makwana, 35, of Virginia, was a contract employee at Fannie Mae's Urbana, Maryland data center for about three years and had unfettered root access to the entire company's system. He was arrested on January 7, 2009 and released on $100,000 bond. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and has pleased not guilty.