ActionPacked! Networks, a privately owned company based in Honolulu, is offering free permanent licenses for its LiveAction 1.8 Software for a limited time. AP! has been working on their LiveAction platform for years, dissecting Cisco and competing vendor router lines in an effort to find a way to make them more accessible and easier to use. This product is based on the premise that managing multiple devices is too difficult when you're required to type commands line-by-line, as is the case with Cisco's CLI and many others.

LiveAction uses embedded device knowledge, charts, and graphics to help network managers troubleshoot various potential problems. The software can be installed on a standard pc, laptop, or server without stopping network traffic and allows IT personnel with password clearance to troubleshoot from anywhere on the network. The programs embedded device knowledge makes it possible for network managers to configure and access various devices and information from the inside out, rather than looking at problems from the outside perspective only.

The free license ActionPacked! is offering lasts through March 31, 2010 and they have even unlocked a few key capabilities that future free versions won't have. Some of these include, offering network managers end-to-end NetFlow, jflow and sflow monitoring and analysis capabilities and includes the added support for HP and Juniper devices. The software is available for download at ActionPacked!'s website.