Data center administrator vs senior administrator

The differences between data center administrators and senior administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a data center administrator and a senior administrator. Additionally, a senior administrator has an average salary of $103,102, which is higher than the $49,854 average annual salary of a data center administrator.

The top three skills for a data center administrator include customer service, linux and vmware. The most important skills for a senior administrator are customer service, SR, and troubleshoot.

Data center administrator vs senior administrator overview

	Data Center Administrator	Senior Administrator
Yearly salary	$49,854	$103,102
Hourly rate	$23.97	$49.57
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	172,212	58,887
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does a data center administrator do?

A data center administrator is in charge of overseeing the daily operations of an organization's data center. Their job focuses on maintaining and updating data storage systems, managing hardware and software, implementing data protection and recovery plans, performing installations and repairs, and providing technical support to staff as needed. They also conduct research and analyses to establish the ideal practices and center layouts, escalating complex issues to the assigned department, maintaining records, and conducting assessments and evaluations to ensure procedures adhere to company standards and project timelines.

What does a senior administrator do?

A senior administrator is responsible for managing the overall administrative duties in an organization, including coordinating with higher management to identify process and operations improvement and other business opportunities to grow revenues and increase profitability. Senior administrators monitor and delegate tasks to the administrative staff, resolve discrepancies on record-keeping, respond to the customers' inquiries and concerns, ensure the adequacy of inventory, and train new staff. They also inspect and update the database regularly for business information and customer details, as well as handling complaints or directing them to the appropriate personnel and department.

Data center administrator vs senior administrator salary

Data center administrators and senior administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Data Center Administrator	Senior Administrator
Average salary	$49,854	$103,102
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $89,000	Between $73,000 And $145,000
Highest paying City	Palo Alto, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	NETSCOUT	The Walt Disney Company
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between data center administrator and senior administrator education

There are a few differences between a data center administrator and a senior administrator in terms of educational background:

	Data Center Administrator	Senior Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Computer Science	Business
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Stanford University

Data center administrator vs senior administrator demographics

Here are the differences between data center administrators' and senior administrators' demographics:

	Data Center Administrator	Senior Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 82.6% Female, 17.4%	Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 13.0% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 10.2% White, 62.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between data center administrator and senior administrator duties and responsibilities

Data center administrator example responsibilities.

Manage Cisco UCS systems that host the organization's VMware environment running critical clinical applications.
Work with USAMITC to manage DNS and with DISA tiger team to manage mail.mil email system.
Manage integrated network connectivity, reporting, and troubleshooting including switch, router, and firewall connectivity to increase system stability.
Work with SQL database developer to create the VMware view database and importing require tables.
Move content to new SQL server.
Use of EMC centera base file archival management system.

Senior administrator example responsibilities.

Organize and manage all meeting logistics for various conferences and events across the U.S.
Lead and/or participate in adding departments to the DMS, client/server upgrades, DR testing, and end user testing.
Have configured the SharePoint environment and continuously managing both intranet and internet sites used by end users, consumers and stakeholders.
Manage calendar and arrange travel; coordinate meetings and events; create PowerPoint presentations; prepare correspondence and approve expense reports.
Provide remote user support via Citrix remote desktop and Cisco VPN.
Create, maintain and provide issue resolution of complex Linux and Unix scripts.

Data center administrator vs senior administrator skills

Common data center administrator skills

Customer Service, 7%
Linux, 6%
VMware, 5%
Vmware Esxi, 5%
Windows Server, 5%
HVAC, 4%

Common senior administrator skills

Customer Service, 10%
SR, 10%
Troubleshoot, 7%
Linux, 5%
Data Entry, 4%
HR, 3%

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Data Center Administrator vs Senior Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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