S7-RedConnect for S7-400H: CP1623 Setup and SCADA Integration

S7-RedConnect for S7-400H: CP1623 Setup, Licensing, and SCADA Integration

Integrating a fault-tolerant SIMATIC S7-400H controller with a third-party HMI such as Wonderware InTouch 2014 R2 requires careful selection of the PC-side communication hardware, the redundancy software license, and the I/O server path. The most common error during migration projects is pairing the wrong PC CP card with the S7-RedConnect software, or paying for a RedConnect license that the SCADA never actually uses. This reference consolidates the engineering decisions, MLFB references, configuration steps, and verification checks required to bring a redundant H system online to a Windows 7 SP1 64-bit operator station with zero data loss on CPU failover.

1. Problem Definition and Migration Goals

The reference migration scenario consists of:

• One operator station per control island, running Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit with InTouch 2014 R2 (HMI development runtime and development environment).
• One redundant S7-400H pair (or two pairs, as in the source scenario) consisting of two PS 407 power supplies, two 414H CPUs, and a pair of CP 443-1 communications processors per H-station.
• A fault-tolerant requirement: any CPU switch-over inside the H pair must be transparent to the HMI; live process data must resume without operator intervention and without stale values.
• Migration from an existing single-channel CP 1613 A2 architecture to a RedConnect-capable channel.

The two engineering questions that must be answered before any hardware is ordered are:

1. Is the existing CP 1613 A2 still the correct PC interface, or must the system be upgraded to CP 1623?
2. Is the S7-RedConnect software license required, or can a Wonderware DAServer provide the redundancy at the SCADA layer?

2. S7-400H Redundancy Architecture Overview

An S7-400H station is built from two identical subracks whose components are paired: PS 407, 414H CPU (or 417H), and at least two CP 443-1 Ethernet processors per side. The two CPUs are linked via fiber-optic synchronization modules (Sync modules) and run in redundant or standby mode. On a primary CPU failure, the standby CPU takes over all process I/O within the configured monitoring time (default 2000 ms; minimum 100 ms for OB 1-free design). All CP 443-1 modules remain online; from the outside world the station is still reachable at the same IP addresses.

To the operator station, redundancy is presented through one of two paths:

• HMI-level redundancy — the SCADA driver (DAServer, OPC, S7 driver) opens two S7 connections, one to each CP 443-1, and switches internally on the loss of the primary. This is the only available path for non-Siemens HMI packages such as InTouch.
• S7-RedConnect redundancy — a Siemens PC software layer that aggregates the two S7-400H CPUs into a single logical S7 connection. Used by WinCC, WinCC flexible, and any application written against the SIMATIC NET OPC or SAPI-S7 interface.

3. Hardware Selection: CP 1613 A2 vs CP 1623

The decision between the legacy CP 1613 A2 and its successor CP 1623 is the first procurement gate. The two cards are functionally similar (PROFINET IO controller / IO device, S7 communication, S7-RedConnect capable) but differ mechanically and in supported host operating systems.

For a greenfield Windows 7 SP1 64-bit + InTouch 2014 R2 station, the engineering recommendation is CP 1623 (6GK1162-3AA00). The CP 1613 A2 is acceptable for retrofit only and is increasingly difficult to source. Migration projects that began with CP 1613 A2 quotes are commonly converted to CP 1623 once the Siemens representative reviews the bill of materials.

4. S7-RedConnect Licensing and Order Numbers

S7-RedConnect is licensed per operator station / PC runtime. The license is tied to the host operating system, so the order number must match the deployed Windows version.

For the migration scenario above (Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-bit, single PC station), the correct S7-RedConnect license is:

S7-RedConnect, Hardnet license for Windows 7
MLFB: 6GK1716-0HB08-1AA0

This is a Hardnet license — software-based, not bound to a specific CP card, and transferred to the PC hardware at activation. The license file (....lic) is delivered as a CoL (Certificate of License) by email from the Siemens license portal and must be imported using the Automation License Manager.

5. Do You Actually Need S7-RedConnect with InTouch?

This is the single most important question raised in the field report. The answer is determined by the I/O server, not by the HMI panel.

For an InTouch 2014 R2 station, the correct I/O server is a Wonderware SuiteLink / DDE / OPC connection through a Wonderware DAServer. The two valid paths are:

1. DASSIDirect DAServer — direct Siemens S7 driver, supports up to 4 redundant S7 connections, recommended when no other OPC source is available.
2. OPC DAServer (DASOpc) bridged to SIMATIC NET OPC Scout — uses SIMATIC NET's S7 OPC server on the same PC, with InTouch consuming it via the OPC client I/O driver. This is the only configuration where S7-RedConnect provides value: SIMATIC NET OPC is the layer that invokes RedConnect, and the OPC tags are then visible to InTouch.

If the project is using the DASSIDirect path, the RedConnect license is unnecessary — DASSIDirect opens two raw S7 connections (one to each CP 443-1 of the H pair) and performs application-level redundancy. For most InTouch projects, S7-RedConnect is not required.

6. Recommended Network Topology

The PC station connects to both CP 443-1 modules of each H pair. This is mandatory for application-level redundancy; without dual paths, a single switch or single CP failure takes down the HMI.

Each CP 443-1 is assigned a unique IP address on the same plant subnet. Typical addressing for two H pairs:

Subrack A, CP 443-1 left   : 192.168.10.11
Subrack A, CP 443-1 right  : 192.168.10.12
Subrack B, CP 443-1 left   : 192.168.10.13
Subrack B, CP 443-1 right  : 192.168.10.14
PC Station, CP 1623 port   : 192.168.10.100

Reserved IP addresses for the redundant PLCs (rack 0 CPU, rack 1 CPU) are configured inside STEP 7 / TIA Portal under PC Interface > Properties > Ethernet > Redundant PLCs. Each PLC IP must be reachable from the PC station with a <50 ms round-trip time; otherwise the failover time will exceed the InTouch update window.

7. Step-by-Step Configuration

7.1 Hardware Installation

1. Power down the PC station and disconnect mains.
2. Insert CP 1623 (6GK1162-3AA00) into an available PCIe x1 slot (or higher).
3. Connect the CP 1623 Ethernet port to the plant SCALANCE switch using a CAT-6A patch cord.
4. Boot the station into Windows 7 SP1 64-bit. The new hardware is detected but not yet functional.

7.2 SIMATIC NET Installation

1. Insert the SIMATIC NET PC Software DVD (V12 SP2 or later) and run Setup.exe as Administrator.
2. Select User-defined installation and enable the following components: Communication Services, SIMATIC NET PC CP (CP 1623), OPC Server (Scout), S7-RedConnect (optional, for OPC path), Automation License Manager.
3. Complete the installation and reboot.
4. Verify in Device Manager that the CP 1623 appears as SIMATIC NET CP 1623 under Network Adapters.

7.3 License Activation

1. Open Automation License Manager from the Start menu.
2. From Edit > Install License, browse to the *.lic file delivered with the order.
3. Confirm the S7-RedConnect license 6GK1716-0HB08-1AA0 is listed as Valid on the local PC.

7.4 PC Station Configuration (Station Configuration Editor)

1. Open Station Configuration Editor (part of SIMATIC NET).
2. Add a new component of type CP 1623 and bind it to the installed NIC.
3. Add an OPC Server component (index 1).
4. Save the station configuration. The resulting file is the PC Station the STEP 7 / TIA project will later download to.

7.5 STEP 7 / TIA Project Integration

1. In STEP 7 (V5.5 or V5.6) or TIA Portal (V13 SP1 and above), insert a new SIMATIC PC Station.
2. From the hardware catalog, drag a CP 1623 into slot 1 of the PC station.
3. Configure the CP 1623 with the S7-RedConnect connection parameters: target S7-400H CPU IP addresses, connection resource (one S7 connection per redundant PLC).
4. Assign the OPC server (index 1) to the OPC slot.
5. Download the PC station configuration to the operator station. The download matches the local Station Configuration Editor file.

7.6 Wonderware InTouch Integration (DASSIDirect Path)

1. Install Wonderware Application Server or DASSIDirect DAServer (formerly SuiteVoyager) on the operator station.
2. Configure two S7 device groups inside the DAServer: one pointing to the primary CP 443-1 IP, one to the secondary.
3. Enable Redundancy in the DAServer and set the failover timeout to 2000 ms (aligned with the H system's monitoring time).
4. In InTouch, create Access Name entries of type DAServer and bind tags to the corresponding item names.

8. Verification and Commissioning

After configuration, perform the following checks before going live:

1. CP link-up test — from the PC station, ping both CP 443-1 IP addresses of the first H pair. Round-trip time should be < 5 ms on a properly segmented plant network.
2. S7 connection test — in SIMATIC NET OPC Scout, add an S7 item (e.g. DB1.DBD0 on the H station) and read its current value. The Quality code must show Good.
3. Redundancy test (non-disruptive) — use STEP 7 to switch the H station from CPU 0 (primary) to CPU 1 (standby) via PLC > Operating Mode > Switchover. The OPC value must remain Good within the configured monitoring time. A momentary Uncertain quality is acceptable; a Bad quality indicates a misconfigured S7 connection resource.
4. Hard failover test — pull the fiber from the primary CPU. The H station must perform a switchover within the configured monitoring time. The HMI tag values must resume with Good quality within 3 seconds (typical InTouch scan class is 250 ms; a 2000 ms monitoring time plus 250 ms scan = 2.25 s).
5. DA Server tag check — in the DAServer Galaxy or IDE, verify that all configured tags show Good quality and that redundancy state is Active / Standby OK.

9. Troubleshooting Matrix

10. Field-Commissioning Notes

• Always update the SIMATIC NET PC Software to the latest SP available at commissioning time. The CP 1623 firmware is updated by SIMATIC NET, not by Windows Update.
• If the operator station is a virtual machine (VM), confirm that the CP 1623 is passed through as a PCIe passthrough device, not as an emulated NIC. SR-IOV is not supported for RedConnect paths in S7-400H applications as of 2026.
• Document the S7 connection resource numbers in the project backup; RedConnect connections occupy fixed resources on the H station CPUs and must be reserved during H-CPU configuration.
• For InTouch 2014 R2 specifically, the SuiteVoyager DAServer shipped with the InTouch DVD may require a hotfix to handle S7-400H redundancy within 250 ms scan class. Apply the latest DAServer cumulative patch from the Wonderware support portal before commissioning.

11. FAQ