Retiring the NSFNET Backbone Service: Chronicling the End of an Era
By Susan R. Harris, Ph.D., and Elise Gerich
Reprinted with permission from “ConneXions”, Vol. 10, No. 4, April 1996.
April 30, 1996, marks the one-year anniversary of the final dismantling of the venerable NSFNET Backbone Service. After more than a year of planning, reconfiguration, shutdowns, and transitions, the U.S. Internet had completed its move to a new architecture composed of multiple backbones, linked at the new interexchange points. The midnight NSFNET shutdown went remarkably smoothly, as did most of the events leading up to the final phaseout. This article looks back on the timelines, dependencies, delays, emergencies, and successes that marked the final year of the NSFNET. We begin by taking a brief look at the history of what was the world’s largest and fastest network for research and education. Read more below.
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