<s>
IPSANET	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
packet	B-Protocol
switching	I-Protocol
network	B-Architecture
written	O
by	O
I	O
.	O
P	O
.	O
Sharp	O
Associates	O
(	O
IPSA	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
initially	O
used	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
3705	I-Device
Communications	I-Device
Controller	I-Device
and	O
Computer	O
Automation	O
LSI-2	O
computers	O
as	O
nodes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
80286	I-General_Concept
based-node	O
was	O
added	O
in	O
1987	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
called	O
the	O
Beta	O
node	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
purpose	O
was	O
to	O
connect	O
low-speed	O
dumb	O
terminals	O
to	O
a	O
central	O
time	B-General_Concept
sharing	I-General_Concept
host	O
in	O
Toronto	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
soon	O
modified	O
to	O
allow	O
a	O
terminal	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
an	O
alternate	O
host	O
running	O
the	O
SHARP	O
APL	B-Language
software	O
under	O
license	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
services	O
including	O
2780/3780	B-Device
Bisync	B-Protocol
support	O
,	O
remote	O
printing	O
,	O
X.25	B-Protocol
gateway	O
and	O
SDLC	B-Protocol
pipe	O
lines	O
were	O
added	O
in	O
the	O
1978	O
to	O
1984	O
era	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
no	O
general	O
purpose	O
data	O
transport	O
facility	O
until	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
Network	B-Architecture
Shared	B-Language
Variable	I-Language
Processor	O
(	O
NSVP	O
)	O
in	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allowed	O
APL	B-Language
programs	O
running	O
on	O
different	O
hosts	O
to	O
communicate	O
via	O
Shared	B-Language
Variables	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Beta	O
node	B-Protocol
improved	O
performance	O
and	O
provided	O
new	O
services	O
not	O
tied	O
to	O
APL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
X.25	B-Protocol
interface	O
was	O
the	O
most	O
important	O
of	O
these	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
allowed	O
connection	O
to	O
a	O
host	O
which	O
was	O
not	O
running	O
SHARP	O
APL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
IPSANET	B-Protocol
allowed	O
for	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
an	O
early	O
yet	O
advanced	O
e-mail	O
service	O
,	O
666	O
BOX	O
,	O
which	O
also	O
became	O
a	O
major	O
product	O
for	O
some	O
time	O
,	O
originally	O
hosted	O
on	O
IPSA	O
's	O
system	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
sold	O
to	O
end	O
users	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
their	O
own	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
network	B-Architecture
reached	O
its	O
maximum	O
size	O
of	O
about	O
300	O
nodes	O
before	O
it	O
was	O
shut	O
down	O
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
