How-To Guide  ·  Siemens SCALANCE X-200  ·  Industrial Ethernet Switch

SCALANCE X208 & X216: Installation, Wiring, and Configuration Guide

SCALANCE X-200 Platform  ·  Managed Layer 2  ·  PROFINET Diagnostics & Ring Redundancy  ·  10/100 Mbps

1. What Is the SCALANCE X-200 Family?

The SCALANCE X-200 IE switches are designed for setting up Industrial Ethernet networks in bus, star and ring structures at 10/100 Mbps, and all of them operate in the SIMATIC environment. The family has several hardware styles: X devices with a rugged metal housing for a DIN rail, an S7-300 standard rail or wall mounting (the X208 and X216 are X devices), XF devices in a flat plastic housing for DIN rail only, IRT variants for isochronous real-time PROFINET, and PRO variants with IP65/IP67 for use outside a cabinet.

Where SCALANCE X-200 Switches Fit in Automation

• PROFINET IO networks -- the X-200 supports PROFINET diagnostics, topology support (LLDP) and configuration with STEP 7, so the switch can be included in a SIMATIC project.
• Ring networks -- ring redundancy (HRP or MRP) with the redundancy manager function built in, plus standby links for coupling rings.
• Machine-level access layers -- place a switch in each machine panel to connect local devices and uplink to a plant network.
• Monitored networks -- the signaling contact opens on link loss at monitored ports, loss of a redundant supply, or other faults, so a PLC input or alarm circuit can watch the switch.

2. X208 vs X216: Which Do You Need?

The X208 and X216 share the same X-200 feature set. The differences are port count, size, weight, power consumption and MTBF. Choose based on how many Ethernet devices you need to connect at one location.

3. Key Features

Management and Diagnostics

The X-200 software properties listed by Siemens are: PROFINET diagnostics, topology support (LLDP), CLI (Command Line Interface) / Telnet, WBM (Web Based Management), configuration with STEP 7, SNMP, ring redundancy including the redundancy manager, and Passive Listening. Encrypted access is possible through WBM with HTTPS or the CLI with SSH; the first start-up takes about one minute longer while the device calculates its certificates. Siemens recommends disabling non-secure protocols such as Telnet and TFTP where they are not needed.

Switching

Signaling Contact and SET Button

The signaling contact is a floating relay contact that signals a fault by opening. It can signal link loss or link establishment on a monitored port, failure of one of the two redundant supplies, loss of the connection to the controller in PROFINET IO mode, a redundancy manager error, or an incompatible C-PLUG. Unmonitored ports do not trigger it, and the contact is always open when the switch is off. The SET button on the device sets the fault mask (which ports and supplies are monitored) and the ring redundancy mode, and holding it through to the last phase resets the device to factory settings.

4. Technical Specifications

SCALANCE X208 (6GK5208-0BA10-2AA3) and X216 (6GK5216-0BA00-2AA3)

5. Article Numbers, Redundancy, and the C-PLUG

The SCALANCE X-200 operating instructions list one article number per switch; there are no separate PROFINET and EtherNet/IP variants of the X208 or X216.

Ring Redundancy

The X-200 supports media redundancy with HRP or MRP and redundant coupling of rings through a standby link, and it can act as the redundancy manager. The RM LED shows whether the device is the redundancy manager and whether the ring is intact. Siemens gives the following rules before adding a device to a running ring:

1. Open the redundant path before inserting a new or replacement device into an operating network. A wrongly configured device or cables on wrongly configured ports overload the network and break communication.
2. Configure the ring ports of the device being inserted as ring ports, and enable the required redundancy mode.
3. If the device will be the redundancy manager, also set “Enable Ring Redundancy”.
4. For a standby link, select “Enable Standby Master”, make the “Standby Connection Name” match the partner device, and configure the standby port.

Ring reconfiguration times and the full redundancy settings are in the SCALANCE X-200 configuration manual, not in the operating instructions.

C-PLUG Configuration Plug

The C-PLUG (6GK1 900-0AB00, not supplied with the switch) is an exchangeable medium that stores the switch configuration. An empty C-PLUG is written with the configuration at start-up and is kept up to date automatically. If a switch fails, move its C-PLUG to the replacement: the new switch starts with the same configuration (except the MAC address), provided the C-PLUG was written by a compatible device type. Insert and remove the C-PLUG only with the power off. A C-PLUG from a differently configured switch must be cleared first.

6. Power Supply & Wiring

The X208 and X216 run on 24 VDC (range 19.2–28.8 VDC). The supply must be a Safety Extra-Low Voltage (SELV) source from a Limited Power Source (LPS) per IEC 60950-1 / EN 60950-1, or comply with NEC Class 2. If you use two separate supplies, both must meet these requirements. The power input can be connected redundantly: the two inputs are isolated from each other, there is no load sharing, and the supply with the higher output voltage feeds the switch on its own.

Power Input Specifications

Wiring the Power Connector

1. Verify the power supply is de-energized before making any connections.
2. Take the supplied 4-pin plug-in terminal block. Its contacts are L1+ (24 VDC), M1 (ground), M2 (ground) and L2+ (24 VDC).
3. Prepare the wires. Strip 8–10 mm. Flexible conductors 0.25–2.5 mm² (AWG 24–13) with or without ferrules, or 0.5–1 mm² (AWG 20–17) with TWIN ferrules. Use ferrules to DIN 46228, 8–10 mm long, crimped with a smooth (square or trapezoid) profile.
4. Connect supply 1 to L1+ and M1.
5. Connect supply 2 (a second, independent supply) to L2+ and M2 for redundancy.
6. Plug the terminal block into the switch and energize the supplies. The power LED “L” lights green when both supplies are present, or yellow when only one is connected (or one input is below 14 VDC).

Wiring the Signaling Contact

Connect the signaling contact to the supplied 2-pin plug-in terminal block (F1, F2). Load it with no more than 100 mA at 24 VDC (SELV). Because the contact opens on a fault and is open when the switch is off, wire it into a PLC input or alarm circuit that treats “open” as the fault state.

7. DIN Rail Installation

The X208 and X216 can be installed on a 35 mm DIN rail (DIN EN 60715), on a SIMATIC S7-300 standard rail, or on a wall. They are open equipment: install them in a suitable cabinet, enclosure, or enclosed control room. In a cabinet, the cabinet’s inner temperature is the switch’s ambient temperature.

Mounting Steps (35 mm DIN Rail)

1. Fit the middle locking mechanism of the switch onto the DIN rail.
2. Press the switch down against the DIN rail until it locks into place.
3. Fit the connectors for the power supply and the signaling contact.
4. Insert the terminal blocks into the sockets on the switch.

Clearance Requirements

Removal

1. Disconnect all connected cables first.
2. Release the lower DIN rail catch with a screwdriver.
3. Pull the lower part of the switch away from the rail and lift it off.

8. LED Diagnostics

The X208 and X216 have a power LED “L”, a fault LED “F”, a redundancy manager LED “RM”, and one LED per Ethernet port. At start-up the power LED lights first, the port LEDs light for about 6 seconds, the fault LED then lights red for about 20 seconds, and about 2 seconds later the correct link status is shown.

Power LED “L”

Fault LED “F”

Redundancy Manager LED “RM”

Port LEDs “P”

Common Issues and Resolutions

9. SCALANCE X208 vs Allen-Bradley Stratix 2000

If your plant has both Siemens and Allen-Bradley equipment, or you are evaluating switch platforms for a new project, the following comparison may help. The SCALANCE X208 and the 1783-US8T Stratix 2000 are both 8-port industrial Ethernet switches aimed at the access layer, but the X208 is managed and the Stratix 2000 is unmanaged.

10. Related Guides & Resources

Reference Documentation

The SCALANCE specifications in this guide were taken from the Siemens publication below; the Stratix 2000 values in the comparison table come from the Rockwell Automation publications listed with it.