Corporate Average Data Center Efficiency (CADE)

Last Updated: June 7, 2013

Definition - What does Corporate Average Data Center Efficiency (CADE) mean?

Corporate average data center efficiency (CADE) is a performance metric used to evaluate and rate the overall energy efficiency of an organization’s set of data centers. CADE makes it possible to calculate and measure a data center's energy consumption based performance and compare it to the performance of other data centers.

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Techopedia explains Corporate Average Data Center Efficiency (CADE)

CADE was initially introduced by Up Time Institute and McKinsey Consulting in an effort to provide a single metric as a means of identifying data center power consumption and efficiency. CADE is calculated using the following equation:

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

where,

IT AE= IT energy efficiency x IT utilization

FE= Facility Energy Efficiency x Facility Utilization

The higher the CADE value the more energy efficient a data center is.

Moreover, to improve the value of CADE, some measures are taken to improve both the IT asset efficiency and the facility efficiency. For example, removal of old/dead servers, sever virtualization and demand management improves IT asset efficiency, while load reduction, better cabling and efficient cooling management can improve facility efficiency.