Infrastructure administrator vs senior system administrator

The differences between infrastructure administrators and senior 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 an infrastructure administrator and a senior system administrator. Additionally, a senior system administrator has an average salary of $98,146, which is higher than the $93,079 average annual salary of an infrastructure administrator.

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

Infrastructure administrator vs senior system administrator overview

	Infrastructure Administrator	Senior System Administrator
Yearly salary	$93,079	$98,146
Hourly rate	$44.75	$47.19
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	100,799	100,873
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
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 senior system administrator do?

A senior system administrator specializes in overseeing the computer system operations in an organization. Their responsibilities primarily revolve around monitoring the performance of all software and hardware, installing servers, configuring systems, and making sure every technical aspect is running smoothly. Should there be any issues, they must take charge of troubleshooting and providing solutions. As someone with more experience, a senior system administrator leads and evaluates the performances of fellow skilled professionals in the department, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

Infrastructure administrator vs senior system administrator salary

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

	Infrastructure Administrator	Senior System Administrator
Average salary	$93,079	$98,146
Salary range	Between $66,000 And $129,000	Between $75,000 And $126,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	PayPal	Cambridge Associates
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between infrastructure administrator and senior system administrator education

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

	Infrastructure Administrator	Senior System Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Infrastructure administrator vs senior system administrator demographics

Here are the differences between infrastructure administrators' and senior system administrators' demographics:

	Infrastructure Administrator	Senior System Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 90.4% Female, 9.6%	Male, 89.0% Female, 11.0%
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, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between infrastructure administrator and senior system 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.

Senior system administrator example responsibilities.

Manage and optimize the design and delivery of project associate with AIX arena.
Manage all installs and setup of new servers, and server upgrades to server 2008 R2.
Implement IIS servers for both the internal and external web servers and managing security on all web servers.
Design, implement, and manage a network and domain extension in a remote location via a secure VPN link.
Manage Cisco network equipment including firewalls and switches.
Administer and manage daily backups via Symantec NetBackup.

Infrastructure administrator vs senior system administrator skills

Common infrastructure administrator skills

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

Common senior system administrator skills

Linux, 7%
Windows Server, 6%
Troubleshoot, 5%
System Administration, 4%
PowerShell, 4%
SAN, 4%

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Infrastructure Administrator vs Senior System Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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