This statement is FALSE . In Huawei firewall hot standby networking, the heartbeat link is used for important communication between the two devices, such as peer status detection, role negotiation, and hot standby related information exchange. However, the heartbeat interfaces do not have to be directly connected with a cable in all cases.
The two heartbeat interfaces can be connected through an intermediate Layer 2 switch , as long as the link is reliable and can properly carry heartbeat traffic between the two firewalls. What matters most is that the heartbeat communication remains stable, low-delay, and uninterrupted, because failure of the heartbeat link may affect peer monitoring and could trigger unnecessary active/standby switching.
In many practical deployments, direct connection is preferred because it is simpler and can reduce the risk of intermediate device failure. Even so, “preferred” is not the same as “must.” The requirement is for a dependable heartbeat path, not strictly a point-to-point cable connection between the two firewalls.
Therefore, the statement saying the heartbeat interfaces must be directly connected is incorrect, so the correct answer is FALSE .
