Editing ARPANET (section)

== Decommissioning ==

In 1985, the NSF funded the establishment of national supercomputing centers at several universities and provided network access and network interconnectivity with the [[NSFNET]] project in 1986. NSFNET became the Internet backbone for government agencies and universities.

The ARPANET project was formally decommissioned in 1990. The original IMPs and TIPs were phased out as the ARPANET was shut down after the introduction of the NSFNet, but some IMPs remained in service as late as July 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livinginternet.com/internet/i/ii_nsfnet.htm|title=NSFNET – National Science Foundation Network|website=Living Internet|access-date=2021-03-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5O25BAAAQBAJ&q=%22arpanet%22%20%22july%201990%22&pg=PA85|title=Digital Communication|isbn=978-3-642-54331-9|last1=Meinel|first1=Christoph|last2=Sack|first2=Harald|date=21 February 2014|publisher=Springer }}</ref>

In the wake of the decommissioning of the ARPANET on 28 February 1990, Vinton Cerf wrote the following lamentation, entitled "Requiem of the ARPANET":<ref name="Abbate">{{cite book |last=Abbate |first=Janet |date=2000 |title=Inventing the Internet |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |isbn=978-0-2625-1115-5 |title-link=Inventing the Internet }}</ref>

{{blockquote|
It was the first, and being first, was best,<br />
 but now we lay it down to ever rest.<br />
Now pause with me a moment, shed some tears.<br />
For [[auld lang syne]], for love, for years and years<br />
 of faithful service, duty done, I weep.<br />
 Lay down [[:wikt:thy|thy]] [[Packet (information technology)|packet]], now, O friend, and sleep.

-[[Vinton Cerf]]
}}