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The differences between senior data center engineers 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 a senior data center engineer and a network administrator. Additionally, a senior data center engineer has an average salary of $103,215, which is higher than the $71,357 average annual salary of a network administrator.
The top three skills for a senior data center engineer include windows, vmware esxi and nexus. The most important skills for a network administrator are switches, windows server, and troubleshoot.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $103,215 | $71,357 |
| Hourly rate | $49.62 | $34.31 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 139,255 | 106,886 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A senior data center engineer specializes in designing and developing systems and networks to optimize data center operations. It is their responsibility to set guidelines and objectives, identify and understand the needs of facilities, conduct research and analyses, develop prototypes and test structures, troubleshoot problems, perform installations and repairs, and conduct regular maintenance checks on systems. Moreover, a senior data center engineer oversees projects and leads junior engineers to reach goals, all while implementing the company's data security policies and regulations.
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.
Senior data center engineers and network administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Average salary | $103,215 | $71,357 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $140,000 | Between $56,000 And $90,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Idaho | Washington |
| Best paying company | CDW | |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior data center engineer and a network administrator in terms of educational background:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior data center engineers' and network administrators' demographics:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 97.9% Female, 2.1% | Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 11.0% White, 62.2% 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% |