JB2020 (Customer) asked a question.

August 15, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Max Number of IO Points for a P2000

I am designing a system that is going to have several remote IO bases (6 remote bases) and we have been considering using the ProtosX Field IO to add more IO points. The total number of IO points I currently have is 328 discrete, but I am thinking of adding another 300 or so discrete and 16 analog.

The system currently has 15 VFDs on it, but I may need to add 11 more if we expand it like we are thinking.

 

How much can the P2000 handle? I cant seem to find a total IO Number anywhere in the CPU specs.

  • 17 answers
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  • z28z34man (Customer)

    weather the hardware onboard is is more capable or not between the P3 and the P2 or if it is a programed limit for different price points I do not know.

     

    The P3 series has always had higher communication limits than the P2. The P3 can do up to 16 remote bases with up to 4 additional racks per base with 64 bit IO cards available the IO count can get insane. The P2 as mentioned earlier has a 8 remote base limit with 32 bit IO cards available the IO count can get up there but is nowhere near the P3 limit.

     

    I already mentioned the 32 GS drive limit for the P3 vs 16 for the P2.

     

    As far as motion control with PS-AMC the P3 and P2 appear the same with up to 4 PS-AMC motion controllers with up to 4 axis per motion controller.

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    • JB2020 (Customer)

      Thank You for this info. What is the best way to add more GS Drives? The system we are building could have up to 26 drives on it.

       

      Just add another CPU and communicate via Ethernet/IP?

      • PouchesInc (Customer)

        I dont do nearly so large of remote connections as you are doing, but I would think EIP would likely be best in your case. Maybe someone else with experience in large remote systems could chime in, but my thought would be that with you already having 6 remote bases and adding in another group of ProtosX Remote IO that your remote IO network will be pretty stressed already. By using EIP for the extra 11 GS Drives you move the communication packets to the main network instead

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      • JB2020 (Customer)

        I haven't got everything laid out yet as far as how many IO points on each remote base but I will definitely not be maxing out the 4,320 IO points. Most of the remote base will only be discrete IO. I also plan to use fiber over the longer distances. I will be converting from a Cat5e or Cat6 cable to fiber and vice versa.

      • PouchesInc (Customer)

        You wont be maxing out the IO points, but it sounds like you will be at or very near maxing out your remote bases connection limit. Maximum of 8 remote bases and 4 ProtosX. You currently have 6 remote bases and are expanding to some number of ProtosX. The maximum IO is just a theoretical limit, for if you had the highest density IO modules all attached to the maximum actual remote connections that can be made. So even if you only connected a single 8 DIO module to each remote base you would still be at your limit even if you had under 100 IO points if you reached your maximum connections.

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      • JB2020 (Customer)

        Yes I understand what you are saying! It is more based off the connections ... and maybe the bandwidth.

    • kewakl (Customer)

      Always locate the latest hardware user manual.

      An older (1st Edition, Rev. D 12/17) manual showed 240 I/O, 16-point I/O, and 8 remote bases as max.

      In the manual look for "Hardware Limits of System"

  • JB2020 (Customer)

    Anybody else have input on this?

  • z28z34man (Customer)

    I would like to here automation directs opinion if upgrading the CPU to a P2-622 would be advisable. I believe the P2-622 has a newer faster CPU under the hood but does that translate to faster communications.

     

    edit

    I just checked and the P2 line only supports up to 16 GS drives. The P3 line supports up to 32.

    https://www.automationdirect.com/productivity/p2000/features#smallinsize

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  • ADC Community_02 (Automationdirect.com)

    Although the P2-622 is equipped with a faster processor, its firmware introduces additional overhead. In our testing, we observed that for smaller projects (e.g., low I/O count, minimal ladder logic, and limited communications), the P2-622 performs slightly below the P2-550. However, as program complexity and communications increase, the P2-622 quickly surpasses the P2-550 in overall performance.

     

    Additionally, the P2-622 offers advantages in both cost and flexibility. It is less expensive than the P2-550 and provides a platform for introducing new features such as Network Read/Write (NETW) and Access System Parameters (ASP).

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