Siemens Scalance XR-324 managed industrial Ethernet switch

A 19-in. rack mounted industrial Ethernet switch is modular, flexible, supports gigabit Ethernet in four models.

June 9, 2010

Siemens Scalance XR-324 managed industrial Ethernet switch from Siemens Industry, Inc. offers modularity and high port density in a compact, 19-in. rack housing that is well suited for rugged industrial applications, the company says. Available in four models that connect to 24 V dc or 110 to 230 V ac, the Scalance XR-324 provides manufacturers and system integrators with a high-performance switch that integrates plant floor networks with enterprise networks via a high speed Gigabit backbone.

The XR-324 switch is designed for maximum flexibility via a wide range of money and time saving options, the company says. Designed for 19-in. cabinets with 12 slots, each slot in the XR-324 can accommodate a selection of 2-port electrical or optical (10/100/1000 Mbit/s) media modules. The optical media modules are available with single mode or multimode fiber. They are also available with small form factor pluggable (SFP) media modules with LC type connectors.

In certain Ethernet based networks that use multi-cast messaging scheme, IGMP snooping is required to prevent information flooding on the networks. This can have up to 24 gigabit ports and advanced management features, including link aggregation, VLAN and IGMP snooping and query. Redundant path communication is protected via redundant ring switching technology with switching times of less than 200 milliseconds, as well as by mesh architectures using spanning tree (STP) and rapid spanning tree (RSTP) protocols. The company announced the product on June 9, 2010.

The new switches are part of the Siemens Scalance X industrial Ethernet family of switches deliver reduced downtime through fast device replacement, lower cost of ownership due to easy configuration with built in web-based management, fast commissioning, complete diagnostics and the reliability of standard redundant point-to-point connections and power supply.

The switches are designed for high-speed backbone architectures – including process control systems — that must handle a large number of devices with redundancy. They support 100 Mbits per second and 1000 Mbits per second communication speeds via Profinet, twisted copper wire or fiber optic cable. Fanless construction combined with the ability to operate at temperatures between -20 °C and +70 °C with condensation help keep the network running longer with fewer failures and miscommunications.

A division of Siemens Industry, Inc. (SII), the Industry Automation (IA) Division is a global leader in the fields of automation systems, low-voltage switchgear and industrial software. IA’s portfolio ranges from standard products for the manufacturing and process industries to enterprise-wide automation solutions for automobile production facilities and chemical plants. As a leading software supplier, IA optimizes the entire value chain of manufacturers – from product design and development to production, sales, as well as a wide range of maintenance services. With nearly 43,000 employees worldwide, Industry Automation posted worldwide revenues of $9.6 billion in fiscal year 2009, the company says. 

www.usa.siemens.com/automation

www.usa.siemens.com/Industry

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– Edited by Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering content strategist, www.controleng.com