Description
Technical Specifications
| Parameter Name | Parameter Value |
|---|---|
| Product Model | A2H124-24FX (Foxboro Ordering No. P0973BJ) |
| Manufacturer | Enterasys Networks / Foxboro (Schneider Electric) |
| Product Type | Layer 2 Managed Fiber Ethernet Switch |
| Series / Platform | SecureStack A2, Foxboro I/A Series DCS |
| Fiber Ports | 24 × 100BASE-FX multimode (MT-RJ / SC variant-specific) |
| Copper Uplink Ports | 2 × 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit RJ45 |
| Expansion Slots | 2 × SFP / Mini-GBIC Gigabit uplink slots |
| Console Port | 1 × DB9 RS232 serial console |
| Out-of-Band Management | 1 × RJ45 OOBM port |
| Switching Capacity | 12.8 Gbps standalone (up to 102.4 Gbps stacked) |
| Forwarding Rate | 9.5 Mpps standalone (up to 76.2 Mpps stacked) |
| MAC Address Table | 8,192 entries |
| VLAN Support | 802.1Q, up to 4,096 VLAN IDs; 1,024 VLAN entries per stack |
| Jumbo Frames | Up to 9,216 bytes |
| Redundancy Protocols | RSTP, MSTP, proprietary stacking protocol |
| Network Management | SNMP v1/v2c/v3, RMON, CLI, Telnet, WebView, NetSight |
| Power Input | 100–240 VAC, 50/60 Hz (P0973BK variant adds redundant PSU) |
| Maximum Power Consumption | Approx. 38–59 W (full load) |
| Stacking Capacity | Up to 8 units in a single logical stack |
| Enclosure Rating | 19″ 1U rack-mount, metal chassis, IP30 |
| Cooling | Fan-less natural convection |
| Operating Temperature | 0 °C to +50 °C (continuous operation) |
| Storage Temperature | -40 °C to +70 °C |
| Humidity | 5–95% RH, non-condensing |
| Isolation | 1500 V surge isolation (fiber bank to CPU PCB) |
| Physical Dimensions | 441 × 44 × 210 mm (17.4 × 1.73 × 8.27 in) |
| Weight | Approx. 2.7 kg (5.95 lb) |
Main Features and Advantages
All-fiber access tier with native EMI immunity. The defining strength of the A2H124-24FX P0973BJ is its 24-port 100BASE-FX multimode fiber architecture. In refinery unit rack rooms, boiler DCS cabinets, and MCC-adjacent enclosures, copper CAT5 runs routinely suffer CRC errors and random controller dropouts under the influence of pump motors and high-current switchgear. By moving both transmit and receive paths onto optical fiber, the switch breaks ground loops and electrically isolates every connected node, preserving signal integrity where copper simply cannot survive.
Factory-preloaded DCS QoS policies. Unlike generic commercial switches, the Foxboro A2H124-24FX P0973BJ ships with Foxboro-validated Quality of Service rules that automatically tag Modbus TCP and proprietary I/A Series control frames for highest-priority forwarding. This ensures that critical interlock and process-variable traffic is never delayed behind routine data, a vital consideration during high-load plant events.
Eliminates field-side media converters. In traditional deployments, every fiber run requires a standalone media converter—cluttering rack space and inflating spare-part inventories. The integrated 100BASE-FX ports of the A2H124-24FX P0973BJ remove this layer entirely, consolidating dozens of fiber drops into a single 1U chassis and dramatically simplifying both commissioning and ongoing maintenance.
Scalable stacking for unified management. Up to eight A2-series units can be chained into one logical stack, synchronizing running configuration and firmware across the group. This allows plant engineers to manage an entire edge tier as a single switching domain rather than dozens of independent devices.
Silent, fan-less industrial construction. The metal, fully enclosed chassis relies on natural convection for cooling, contains no moving parts, and is well suited to closed, dust-prone control cabinets. Its robust internal layout physically separates the fiber transceiver bank from the main switch ASIC, so a field-side surge is far less likely to damage core management circuitry.
