Infrastructure administrator vs network administrator

The differences between infrastructure administrators and network administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an infrastructure administrator and a network administrator. Additionally, an infrastructure administrator has an average salary of $93,079, which is higher than the $71,357 average annual salary of a network administrator.

The top three skills for an infrastructure administrator include troubleshoot, linux and windows server. The most important skills for a network administrator are switches, windows server, and troubleshoot.

Infrastructure administrator vs network administrator overview

	Infrastructure Administrator	Network Administrator
Yearly salary	$93,079	$71,357
Hourly rate	$44.75	$34.31
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	100,799	106,886
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does an infrastructure administrator do?

Infrastructure administrators are information technology (IT) professionals who are responsible for implementing and maintaining the telecommunication and data systems of an organization. These administrators must coordinate the implementations of IT procedures and policies of the organization as well as perform daily monitoring, maintenance, and backups. They are required to assist in network troubleshooting and provide end-user support about their hardware and software problems. Infrastructure administrators must also implement policies regarding security, network usage, and disaster recovery.

What does a network administrator do?

A network administrator is responsible for managing an organization's computer systems, ensuring its smooth operations and highest efficiency. Network administrators' duties include inspecting network malfunctions, troubleshooting unresponsive programs, improving system processes, analyzing client's specifications, upgrading existing applications, coordinating with the technology department, and creating a report of network issues resolutions. A network administrator should display a strong command of programming languages. Extensive knowledge in the technology industry and analytical and problem-solving skills to manage network problems immediately is also necessary.

Infrastructure administrator vs network administrator salary

Infrastructure administrators and network administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Infrastructure Administrator	Network Administrator
Average salary	$93,079	$71,357
Salary range	Between $66,000 And $129,000	Between $56,000 And $90,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	PayPal	Google
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between infrastructure administrator and network administrator education

There are a few differences between an infrastructure administrator and a network administrator in terms of educational background:

	Infrastructure Administrator	Network Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Infrastructure administrator vs network administrator demographics

Here are the differences between infrastructure administrators' and network administrators' demographics:

	Infrastructure Administrator	Network Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 90.4% Female, 9.6%	Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.9% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 9.6% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between infrastructure administrator and network administrator duties and responsibilities

Infrastructure administrator example responsibilities.

Manage allocate SAN storage and HBA configuration.
Manage, upgrade, and troubleshot ShoreTel VOIP network.
Manage all SSL certificates as well as internal and external DNS services for the organization.
Used SCCM to manage resources, software distribution, inventory, build software packages, and troubleshoot fail installs.
Authore and maintain shell and Perl scripts to automate administration tasks for infrastructure management.
Resolve network issues using DHCP, and DNS.

Network administrator example responsibilities.

Lead and manage desktop standards project.
Manage backups using EMC Networker and Avamar.
Manage Solarwinds to monitor servers and networks for all locations.
Manage all provisioning and technical issues for new customer IP blocks.
Deploy and manage storage (windows file servers and NetApp NAS).
Manage all technology: Novell, Microsoft, Cisco, email, library, labs, dorms, programs

Infrastructure administrator vs network administrator skills

Common infrastructure administrator skills

Troubleshoot, 10%
Linux, 7%
Windows Server, 6%
OS, 4%
PowerShell, 4%
SAN, 4%

Common network administrator skills

Switches, 7%
Windows Server, 6%
Troubleshoot, 5%
Network Hardware, 5%
Routers, 4%
Lan Wan, 4%

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Infrastructure Administrator vs Network Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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