The old adage is that you do a job right, or you don't do it at all. Microsoft probably feels this way as they've taken out a breach of contract lawsuit against a building contractor due to shoddy work on a data center they relied upon.
Seattle's Callison Architecture has been the target of the lawsuit due to a dodgy roofing system at Microsoft's Central Washington center. That could have caused damage to thousands of servers through general water leaks and other nasties that rainwater can bring, such as mold and condensation.
The suit, taken out at King County Superior Court, states the company had to pay to replace the roof for themselves at a cost of around $6 million. Callison Architecture figured the center didn't need a vapor barrier in the roof and Microsoft disagreed. The customer is always right, especially when he has almost 30 years of history with you.
It is interesting that Callison and Microsoft have come to blows, with the two having been friends since 1985. Indeed, Callison's webpage has a specific section relating to their Microsoft business relationship.
The Central Washington data center lies in the city of Quincy, alongside centers operated by Yahoo and Dell. The area's low electricity pricing is a bonus for companies running thousands of high-end servers at once, for obvious reasons. The center has been running in Quincy since 2006.
Source: Bizjournal
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