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The differences between senior data center engineers 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 a senior data center engineer and a senior system administrator. Additionally, a senior data center engineer has an average salary of $103,215, which is higher than the $98,146 average annual salary of a senior system administrator.
The top three skills for a senior data center engineer include windows, vmware esxi and nexus. The most important skills for a senior system administrator are linux, windows server, and troubleshoot.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $103,215 | $98,146 |
| Hourly rate | $49.62 | $47.19 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 139,255 | 100,873 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| 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 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.
Senior data center engineers and senior system administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Average salary | $103,215 | $98,146 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $140,000 | Between $75,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Idaho | California |
| Best paying company | CDW | Cambridge Associates |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior data center engineer and a senior system administrator in terms of educational background:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| 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 senior system administrators' demographics:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 97.9% Female, 2.1% | Male, 89.0% Female, 11.0% |
| 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, 8.9% 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% |