Today marks the release of version 5.2 of Nomad 2012, 1E's Software Deployment and Systems Management solution.
This new release provides the following features:

  • Single Site Peer Backup Assistant – can make use of single site data to locate potential PBA data stores at the local site not just the local subnet.
  • High-Availability Peer Backup Assistant – now supports the creation of multiple backups of USMT data to minimize risk and maximize success for OS migration.
  • App-V Streaming – Nomad 2012 integrates with App-V streaming applications, recognizing that the initial download is only partial enabling full download at a later date.

Single Site Peer Backup Assistant

Peer Backup Assistant (PBA) allows Nomad 2012-enabled clients to act as equivalents to ConfigMgr State Migration Points. It rides on top of Nomad's peer communication mechanism which is normally limited to the local subnet and would prevent neighboring subnets on the same site from being used for potential Nomad PBA stores. Single Site Peer Backup Assistant (SSPBA) uses single site capabilities, provided as part of the single-site download feature, to enable PBA data stores to reside not only on the local subnet but also on nearby subnets. This enables you to:

  • Designate a fit-for-purpose machine to provide the Nomad PBA data store for all machines on the site, not just the local subnet.
  • Avoid any issue where clients on particular subnets do not have sufficient disk space to offer the role of a Nomad PBA data store.

High-Availability Peer Backup Assistant

Peer Backup Assistant (PBA) allows Nomad 2012-enabled clients to act as equivalents to ConfigMgr State Migration Points. High-Availability Peer Backup Assistant (HAPBA) ensures that USMT data is stored and made available on multiple machines during the migration process to minimize risk and maximize success. Implementing HAPBA enables you to:

  • Save USMT data in multiple locations (up to a maximum of 6) to help mitigate risk during migration
  • Save USMT data without the need to regenerate it using the USMT save action

HAPBA is implemented using a custom task sequence action, Peer Backup Assistant: High Availability, and requires no configuration of the underlying Nomad system.

App-V Streaming

Nomad supports Application Virtualization ("App-V") applications which are deployed as streamed content by Configuration Manager 2012. Note that Nomad 2012 only handles App-V applications that use Configuration Manager as the App-V server. Nomad does not integrate with the standalone App-V server.
Streaming is a way of providing an application to many enterprise users on a central server such that the vast majority of the App-V application's content is not downloaded until a user actually invokes the application for the first time, thus not wasting network bandwidth (and a user's time) until the user needs the content. The icons etc. for the application appear on the user's desktop, but the executable part of the application is held back until it is required.
Nomad 2012 respects the Configuration Manager settings for fast and slow networks. For example, an App-V application's deployment type may specify use streaming for a fast network but do a full download in a slow network.

Nomad 5.1 Changes

Most Nomad customers will not have deployed version 5.1 so those changes are relevant too. Those include:

  • The addition of predefined Peer Backup Assistant task sequence actions, making PBA easier to set up
  • Multicast support added to “Install and configure Nomad in WinPE” and “Pre-stage content using Nomad” task sequence actions
  • “Pre-stage content using Nomad” task sequence action no longer requires the use of LSZ Delegation for non-site server (standalone) distribution points.