Welcome back to our two part series answering all the questions you had in our Introducing Nomad 2012 v5 webinar. We've answered most of the new features and general Nomad questions in part one and will continue to answer the rest of the questions surrounding Nomad and System Center Configuration Manager questions. Remember, you can still watch the recording of the webinar here.

Nomad 2012 and Wireless

Q: ­Can you confirm Nomad also works on wireless Networks? The client broadcast is seen by “neighbour” wireless clients.
1E: Nomad does work on a wireless network. However, the ability to share with peers would depend on your wireless configuration and security.

PXE

Q: ­In the current version of PXELite you have to install a local client to enable PXE booting. Is this still the case or has this not changed? ­
1E: Yes this is still the case as it allows you to be more flexible with targeting and enabling PXE.

USMT / Peer Backup Assistance (PBA) Questions

Q: In User State Migration, how is this data move process better than using USMT 4 with data hardlinks – and not moving the data at all?
1E: For in place upgrades hardlinking is always recommended but you can backup for safety. The biggest benefit with Peer Backup Assistant is in the hardware refresh scenario.
Q: How do you ensure the peer machine isn't rebuilt itself while holding user data?
1E: This is part of the SCCM targeting of your Task Sequence, and you can always utilize a safety mechanism in the Task Sequence to prevent a rebuild if it’s hosting a peer’s data at any given time.
Q: ­Is the data stored using Peer Backup Assistant encrypted?­
1E: Communications are encrypted and the data is protected through NTFS security and account access controlled by the Nomad service.
Q: If a user is getting a new machine as part of the migration, how do you redirect the data to a different machine?
1E: This can be done manually as part of the Task Sequence execution or through other methods such as Machine or Collection variables.
Q: ­What happens during data migration if peer machine becomes unavailable?­
1E: There are techniques to account for this in the Task Sequence as Peer Backup Assistant sends this information back to the Task Sequence Engine.

Compatibility and support questions (System Center Configuration Manager)

Q: ­We are currently planning an upgrade from V3 to V4, to run with SCCM2007, is V5 compatible with SCCM2007? Would it be beneficial to hold off with the V4 upgrade, what constraints would need to be considered and when could V5 be made available to us?­
1E: Yes v5 works with ConfigMgr 2007 as well. It would always be best practice to upgrade to the latest version if possible. If you want more specific details on upgrade steps, you could always contact our support team.
Do all of these features work with SCCM 2007?
1E: Except for App-Model type features, all functionality for ConfigMgr 2012 exists for 2007 as well.
What is the compatibility with SCCM SP1 right now? When will Nomad 2012 be available?
1E: Nomad 2012 will support ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 within 90 days of GA.
Prior to Version 5, will there be an update to version 4.1.100 to support SCCM 2012 SP1?
1E: Service Pack 1 will be supported on 5.x within 90 days of GA.

Compatibility and support questions (Misc)

Q: ­Does v5 support server 2012?­
1E: We have imminent plans for extending support to Server 2012 within the next few months.
Q: ­Version 5 supports sccm 2007 as well, correct?
­1E: Yes.
Q: ­Is there one agent for both 32-bit and 64-bit systems?­
1E: The agent is different due to a ConfigMgr client pre-requisite requiring the installation to happen in a specific order if you are running a 64-bit ConfigMgr infrastructure however the MSI installation process of Nomad is the same and straightforward.
Q: ­Is Nomad 5.0 infrastructure compatible with Nomad 4?­
1E: While the versions can run side by side, some features (such as FanOut and Single Site Download) will not be available in the older versions. We recommend that you upgrade all clients for standardization purposes. We recommend upgrading DPs to version 5 first then doing a staged upgrade across the network until all systems get upgraded.
Q: ­Why do I need Nomad if I have Windows Server 2012 & Branch cache and SCCM 2012 SP1?­
1E: The benefits of FanOut and Single Site Download as well as Reverse QoS™ and Nomad’s failover make it an attractive solution over the standard ConfigMgr offering. In addition the OSD features of Nomad are still necessary for most organizations today.
Q: ­How will this work in 802.1x enabled networks?­
1E: Nomad can work in 802.1x but this question may be asking for more information. If there is something specific here we can assist you further over phone or email.
Q: Do the Nomad enhancements with version 5 alleviate the previous need for pre-staging of content to the peer systems?
1E: These needs were alleviated in version 4.1 of Nomad 2012 last summer when the custom Task Sequence action for “Prestage content in WinPE” was added to the product. Please see the documentation for more information.
We hope the two part series Q and A has answered many of the questions you may have had. If not, let us know and comment below or get in touch.