Huawei HCIE - The Journey continues Part 2

In the fist part of this post, we looked at the written journey and lab practice. Lets continue and look at the lab day and the interview that follows this.

HUAWEI HCIE LAB

Having passed the written, its time to schedule the actual lab. This is where you get the real test ! Its an 8 hour long config only lab test, which requires 80% to pass. I did the lab in Sydney, with my proctor being Anna who was fantastic! They took care of making sure I had everything needed, and also provided lunch ! I was given an exam room to myself, so I could focus on getting through the lab. Things you need to know about the lab day:

- You are supplied a laptop for the test. I took an external keyboard and mouse in so I didn't have to work off a laptop keyboard for 8 hours
- The lab starts the second the proctor gives the PC to you. You need to read the notes, and then configure the Terminal to connect to the routers/switches as per the notes. Then you click the Question tab and get on with it ! I lost 20mins here not realising that the test had started since I had not gone through the tabs.
- You get a lab number (eg 21) - this is used throughout the lab for IP config (eg 192.168.10.21 for loopback). In all the mock labs you always use lab number 1 for this octet - be careful not to get in the habit of only using 1 as the lab number when you practice, as you may enter the wrong IP in the real thing for the config or later testing ! This happened to me on my CCIE R&S many years ago - added to the stress once I worked out that I had configured the wrong IPs to match the test requirement! Had to very quickly correct a lot of addresses in the middle of the lab...
- You have full searchable access to Hedex. You should be well familiar with Hedex by the lab time, as its a great tool to refer to for config when you don't know or are unsure. BUT don't rely on it for everything as there wont be enough time for that ! I used it for 2 minor points in the lab that I needed to confirm.
- The points for each question are clearly marked - totaling 100 across the test. This allows you to make sure that if you have a few questions you are not sure on, you can check which ones to go back and complete when you review so you can still get above the 80% mark.
- Once you have completed the lab, re-check all your questions are working and IP/Multicast reach-ability is as expected, then you can close the lab and save your config. With 10 minutes to go you are locked out from the question set, and you have to manually copy the config of each device to text files, then .rar them to a file and upload (clear details are provided in the lab, so dont be concerned of this). This concludes your lab!

Now you wait... up to 5 days for the result. Hopefully you get the pass :)

HUAWEI INTERVIEW
Once the lab is passed, you need to schedule the interview. This is a 1 hour remote video/audio session with 1 or 2 Huawei engineers in China (again in the local Huawei offices), where you will be asked 3 main questions (L3 Routing, L2 Switching, and Lab Question in my case). You need to answer those questions - BUT then they ask you more detail about that topic and keep going... so basically each question spawns 8-10 sub questions around that topic. Ive read that you need to get 2 of the 3 questions correct, but I dont know exactly what getting a question correct means, as I got the first one 100%, but probably 60-70% on Q2 and 3 (I think), and passed. To study for this I went over the Huawei course guide that is used in the Video Training series and made sure I knew as much from the theory space again that I used for the written test (including the minor details like what ICMPv6 port does IPv6 ND advertise on)

CLASSROOM LEARNING

In terms of a training/learning classroom option, there is also instructor led courses. ITIC in Sydney is the Australian provider for this (who I am planning to be working with in 2018 as part of the teaching team), and there are other providers around the world that can help you learn the Huawei HCIE theory and labs, as well as provide interview hints and tips.

STUDY TIMEFRAME
So how long did it take to complete? For me it was a 5 month journey (done after hours and on weekends around my working life and family). But as noted at the top I have a background that reduced the normal learning time. If you are coming from the CCNP/HCNP space - 9-12 months would be reasonable, especially if you do the instructor led training course as part of the learning.

Once all this is done - you are an HCIE ! Congrats you can add an IE level qualification to your certifications.

Feel free to post any questions on the HCIE (or CCIE) below and I'll answer what I can. Good luck !

Huawei HCIE - The Journey continues Part 1

Recently I passed the Huawei HCIE Routing and Switching exam. There is not as much coverage of the HCIE process as there is with CCIE, so to give some guidance to other engineers who are studying (or thinking of studying) this IE path, let me provide some insights into the certification, how I studied, and how the testing works for the Written, Lab and Interview.

In terms of my previous study, I had already done the CCIE Routing and Switching in 2014, and completed the CCIE Service Provide in early 2017, so this provided me a strong technical background to move to the HCIE and not have to spend as much time learning theory as much as time learning differences between Cisco and Huawei. But that may not be your path - you may be working through HCNA/HCNP, or even in CCNA/CCNP. There is still a very good learning path you can take (which I completed as part of the teaching of the differences, to make sure I had a full understanding of how to produce the results needed in the lab).

Let me make one point first - Huawei give you every learning skill needed to pass. I say this because having come from 5 years of Cisco learning and certifications, where this is not as much the case, Huawei provide free video and written training, free mock labs, and online regular demo and updates on the lab, written test and interview. This was a pleasant change ! If you go through everything they give you and understand and can apply it, you will be in a great position come the lab.

HUAWEI LEARNING OPTIONS

The following is the learning process you have freely available form Huawei (register for a free account first to use the site):

1. Review all the parts of the training guide at http://support.huawei.com/learning/en/newindex.html

2. Have a look through the training material (look for all the HCIE tagged courses) at http://support.huawei.com/learning/NavigationAction!createNavi?navId=MW000001_term1000025144&lang=en
 
3. Specifically, do the complete video training course http://support.huawei.com/learning/nodeQueryAction!loadTrainProjectInfo?lang=en&pbiPath=term1000025144&courseId=Node1000010960&navId=MW000001

4. During your video learning, I suggest you go and install eNSP, Hedex so you can start to apply the theory that is being taught. Once you have finished the series, work through Mock Lab 1 and 2 @ http://support.huawei.com/learning/nodeQueryAction!loadTrainProjectInfo?lang=en&pbiPath=term1000025144&courseId=Node1000010960&navId=MW000001 This will 70% prepare you for the actual lab (and the walk-through videos and docs that accompany the mock labs are excellent)

WRITTEN TEST

5. If you have understood all the technologies, videos and the labs, now is a good time to sit the written. Its a 60% pass mark and from memory there was around 80 multiple choice (only) questions on the test which you had 2 hours to complete. I had not studied as much on IPv6 detailed theory so lost quite a few marks in that area (this is well covered in the training - I had not completed the IPv6 course learning before sitting the written).

6. Once you have passed the written and completed the mock labs, I would suggest you move on to the advanced lab that is sold by iNetZero (https://www.inetzero.com/product-category/huawei/hcie/). This covers even more config options than the mock exams and will give you more practice for the test. There are great walk throughs across a heap of mini labs, and then there is the 8 hr demo lab. For me that demo lab was longer than an 8 hour lab with much more content than I got in my actual lab, so just work through it at any pace and gain the understanding of how to do each part.

7. Now you need to get the speed part sorted - do the Mock1 and Mock2 labs from the question sets only (ie don't use the solution guide). If you can get through each of them in around 6-7 hrs from scratch, you should be ready for the lab !

In part 2 of this series, we will look at the actual lab and the interview process that follows.