From Federal Way to 1000 Denny: The Engineering Behind Our March 6th Move
On March 6th, 2026, NoBull Networks completed a massive physical migration of our infrastructure. We moved every server and network switch from our long-time home in Federal Way to the H5 Data Centers facility at 1000 Denny Way in downtown Seattle.
As a company built on Radical Transparency, we aren’t going to give you the marketing fluff. Moving owned hardware is a high-stakes operation. We faced a forced timeline, a brutal 16-hour maintenance window, and some complex technical hurdles, but the result is a massive leap forward for our customers’ performance.
The “Why”: Beyond the Forced Lease End
In November 2025, we learned that our previous facility at the Cogent Communications building was shutting down due to a lease negotiation issue. We had until the end of March to vacate.
While we could have moved to a cheaper location further inland, we chose the Lumen Technologies floor at 1000 Denny Way (the former Seattle Times building). This site is a Tier III powerhouse that supports Fortune 500 requirements and offers on-site security 24/7. It puts our hardware at the heart of the Pacific Northwest’s internet backbone.
The Connectivity Stack: Global Reach, Local Speed
By moving to this facility, we’ve unlocked a level of connectivity that simply wasn’t possible in Federal Way. We are no longer just a “well-connected” provider; we are now sitting in a premier carrier hotel with direct access to the world’s most robust networks.
Our New Multi-Homed Backbone:
- Lumen (formerly Level 3): By being on the Lumen floor, we tap into one of the most connected backbones globally.
- Zayo: We’ve maintained our Zayo partnership to ensure network continuity and stability.
- Wholesail Networks (Ziply Fiber): This gives us incredible regional fiber depth and performance throughout the Northwest.
- The Seattle SIX: We are currently in the process of entering peering on the Seattle Internet Exchange, which will allow us to trade traffic directly with hundreds of other networks, bypassing the “public” internet entirely.
International Latency Gains: Hawaii, Japan, and Asia-Pacific
For our customers running international workloads, this move is a game-changer. 1000 Denny Way is a critical landing point for subsea cables. This means significantly lower latency to Hawaii, Japan, and other Asia-Pacific destinations. If your users are in Tokyo or Honolulu, your data is now taking a much shorter path to get to them.
The “Bull”: 16 Hours in the Trenches
We believe in being honest even when it’s inconvenient. We planned for a four-hour window; we hit 16 hours.
What went wrong?
We hit two main snags once the hardware was racked in the new facility:
- Strict Routing Security: Our internal security protocols were configured so strictly that they initially blocked the new routing paths, requiring manual intervention on every node.
- IP Constraints: Because we didn’t have enough spare IP addresses to “pre-test” the new environment at scale, we had to solve configuration issues in real-time under the clock.
Making it Right: At NoBull, Fairness is a core value. We know your business relies on our uptime, and we missed our mark. To hold ourselves accountable, we issued a 5% service credit to all impacted accounts automatically. No hoops to jump through, no tickets to open. It was the right thing to do.
The Bottom Line
We are rebuilding trust in hosting by providing infrastructure that works perfectly every time. While the move on March 6th was a trial by fire, it has landed us in a facility that will support our growth and yours, for years to come.
You’re still paying the same price, but you’re now running on one of the most powerful network floors in Seattle. That’s the NoBull difference.
