Schneider Electric EcoStruxure Foxboro ™ DCS Thin Client（PSS 41H-4THNCLNT）

Schneider Electric EcoStruxure Foxboro ™  DCS Thin Client（PSS 41H-4THNCLNT）

This product is a thin client designed specifically for Foxboro distributed control system (DCS) by Schneider Electric, based on HP ®  The T755 hardware platform is equipped with the Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 system, which enables DCS system monitoring and operation through remote connection in a compact form. It is suitable for traditional and virtualized Foxboro DCS environments, with both ease of use and high security, and supports flexible networking and redundant configuration.

Core positioning and basic configuration

1. Product essence and hardware selection

Definition: A thin client is a physical hardware terminal that accesses the server-side operating system through remote connections, enabling DCS system event monitoring and response. Compared to workstations, it is smaller in size and can be locally deployed on the user side.

Hardware specifications: designated to use HP ®  The T755 model only offers the dual network card (RH103HM) version, and the single network card version has been discontinued; Standard QWERTY keyboard, software installation requires a USB DVD drive (used for installing thin client software, SE RDP connection manager, and alarm keyboard software).

2. Optional configuration (to be purchased separately)

Display device: Supports up to 4 LCD monitors, corresponding to models P0928JJ (23 inch USB touch screen monitor) and RH103FR (24 inch LCD monitor).

Audio and input devices: USB speaker (model RH103DN), up to 4 alarm keyboards (models P0924TT, P0924WV); If the thin client is equipped with a QWERTY keyboard, FoxPanels can be used instead of the alarm keyboard.

Functions and core features

1. Remote access and DCS interaction

Access object: Foxboro DCS software suite can be obtained by connecting to the following remote servers through the network:

H90 and H94 physical servers running Windows Server system;

Virtual machines (VMs) deployed on Foxboro DCS V91 and V95 virtualization hosts.

Communication method: Connect physical or virtual auxiliary communication network (ACN, composed of managed Ethernet switches) through 1GB copper cable Ethernet, Schneider Electric provides dedicated engineering processes for establishing network connections; Supports single or redundant network card connections. If a RDP server failure is detected, it can automatically switch to another server.

Operational capability: As a Human Machine Interface (HMI) station, through Microsoft ®  Remote Desktop Services or SE RDP Connection Manager can remotely view and manage DCS software suites, performing operational tasks similar to workstations.

2. Configuration flexibility

Support multiple deployment configurations to meet different usage scenarios:

Restricted connection: Only allow connections to specific virtual machines or physical DCS servers.

Automatic connection: Automatically connects to a single virtual machine or physical server after booting up.

Redundancy and Multiple Connections: Multiple virtual machines/physical servers can be connected (supporting "one redundancy at a time"), or multiple devices can be automatically connected upon startup; It can also be used in non domain environments of local version Control Core Services and enterprise version Control Core Services.

3. Performance and Capacity Limitations

Session support: A single server running Microsoft Remote Desktop Services can support up to 30 FoxView remote sessions and 10 Control HMI remote sessions; Due to the bandwidth limitation of physical Ethernet ports, the total number of RDP sessions for all virtual machines on the virtualization host server does not exceed 60 (the actual number is affected by the type and number of applications running in the sessions).

4. Network security

Access control: thin clients can be configured to only connect to specific remote servers; The remote server assigns corresponding operation permissions based on the logged in user's configuration file.

Additional protection: optional Trellix Terminal Security (ENS) enhanced protection, providing advanced threat defense capabilities; When purchasing the T755 thin client, the Trellix ENS license rights for the first 5 years are included, and renewal is required after 5 years.

Reference document: For detailed security specifications and best practices, please refer to EcoStruxure ™  Foxboro ™  DCS Network Security Reference Guide "(document number B0700HZ).

License authorization requirements

Two types of licenses must be met to ensure legal use:

1. Foxboro DCS related licenses

There is no specific hardware or software license for thin clients, and the existing Foxboro DCS software suite license still applies, but the license belongs to the remote server (non thin client).

Both physical servers and virtual machines, as well as the thin clients connected to them, require corresponding Foxboro DCS software suite licenses. The specific license model needs to be determined based on the type of DCS software installed on the server/thin client.

2. Microsoft License

Free session management: Windows Server allows 2 remote access sessions without CAL (Client Access License), used only for management and technical support, and does not occupy local desktop session resources.