Data center administrator vs windows system administrator

The differences between data center administrators and windows system 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 windows system administrator. Additionally, a windows system administrator has an average salary of $79,845, 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 windows system administrator are windows server, infrastructure, and powershell.

Data center administrator vs windows system administrator overview

	Data Center Administrator	Windows System Administrator
Yearly salary	$49,854	$79,845
Hourly rate	$23.97	$38.39
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	172,212	94,648
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
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 windows system administrator do?

A Windows System Administrator maintains the systems and servers of a Windows operating system. They evaluate and modify the system's performance.

Data center administrator vs windows system administrator salary

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

	Data Center Administrator	Windows System Administrator
Average salary	$49,854	$79,845
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $89,000	Between $60,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	Palo Alto, CA	Sunnyvale, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	NETSCOUT	Meta
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between data center administrator and windows system administrator education

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

	Data Center Administrator	Windows System Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Data center administrator vs windows system administrator demographics

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

	Data Center Administrator	Windows System Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 82.6% Female, 17.4%	Male, 88.3% Female, 11.7%
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, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 13.7% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between data center administrator and windows system 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.

Windows system administrator example responsibilities.

Manage and configure VPN connections for the users.
Deploy and manage Panasonic PBX and VOIP phone systems and network connectivity.
Manage exchange stores, mailbox provisioning, active sync and monitoring the mailboxes.
Manage data usage, space, security and archival over servers, workstations and NAS machines.
Manage issues with server hardware, networking, web services, database, DNS, clustering, and e-mail.
Manage all OU's under domain at multiple sites across the country through a constant VPN tunnel per client rules.

Data center administrator vs windows system administrator skills

Common data center administrator skills

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

Common windows system administrator skills

Windows Server, 9%
Infrastructure, 7%
PowerShell, 7%
Troubleshoot, 6%
Linux, 5%
SCCM, 4%

Data Center Administrator vs. similar jobs

Data Center Administrator related careers

Data Center Administrator related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Computer and Mathematical Industry
Data Center Administrator
Data Center Administrator vs Windows System Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse computer and mathematical jobs