Senior system administrator vs windows system administrator

The differences between senior system 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 senior system administrator and a windows system administrator. Additionally, a senior system administrator has an average salary of $98,146, which is higher than the $79,845 average annual salary of a windows system administrator.

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

Senior system administrator vs windows system administrator overview

	Senior System Administrator	Windows System Administrator
Yearly salary	$98,146	$79,845
Hourly rate	$47.19	$38.39
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	100,873	94,648
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

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.

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.

Senior system administrator vs windows system administrator salary

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

	Senior System Administrator	Windows System Administrator
Average salary	$98,146	$79,845
Salary range	Between $75,000 And $126,000	Between $60,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Sunnyvale, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Cambridge Associates	Meta
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between senior system administrator and windows system administrator education

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

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

Senior system administrator vs windows system administrator demographics

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

	Senior System Administrator	Windows System Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 89.0% Female, 11.0%	Male, 88.3% Female, 11.7%
Race ratio	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%	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 senior system administrator and windows system administrator duties and responsibilities

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.

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.

Senior system administrator vs windows system administrator skills

Common senior system administrator skills

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

Common windows system administrator skills

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

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Senior System Administrator vs Windows System Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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