The extremely compact, 1.5"(W) x 2.75"(L) Ethernet XServer lets you add an instant Ethernet port to your M-series PLCs. When connected to your office or home network, it provides a continuously operating TCP/IP gateway to the PLCs to allow for remote programming, monitoring and controlling of the PLCs via the LAN or the Internet.

You probably know that the TLServer program provided in the TRiLOGI software package already allows the PLCs to be connected to the LAN or the Internet without buying additional hardware. But since TLServer is a software it needs to run on a PC for 24/7 without crashing.

With the XServer, you no longer need any PC since the XServer itself is a standalone computer with firmware that incorporates most of the functionality of TLServer. The XServer allows up to 4 simultaneous TCP/IP connections, hence client programs such as the TRiLOGI/ExcelLink clients or your own Java program can connect to the PLC via the XServer simultaneously.

An XServer can provide TCP/IP connection to a single PLC via its RS232 port, or to as many as 255 PLCs if you connect the XServer to the PLC's RS485 ports via an Auto485 converter.

When connected to a single PLC, the PLC program can command the XServer to send out emails with dynamic real-time contents or to open a TCP/IP connection to a remote TLServer or XServer and communicate with a remote PLC! This is sometime known as "M2M" (machine-to-machine) communication and can vastly expand the control reach of your PLC!

PLC networking via Internet using Ethernet XServer