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Server engineer vs windows system administrator

The differences between server engineers 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 server engineer and a windows system administrator. Additionally, a server engineer has an average salary of $105,940, which is higher than the $79,845 average annual salary of a windows system administrator.

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

Server engineer vs windows system administrator overview

Server EngineerWindows System Administrator
Yearly salary$105,940$79,845
Hourly rate$50.93$38.39
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs142,17394,648
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4343
Years of experience22

What does a server engineer do?

A server engineer specializes in designing and developing server structures in a company, ensuring accuracy and client satisfaction. They typically work together with technicians and specialists to analyze and assess existing systems to identify their strengths and weaknesses, implement solutions in problem areas, provide technical support, and develop strategies to optimize operations. Furthermore, as a server engineer, they are also in charge of installing and performing regular maintenance checks on servers, coordinating corrective measures in a prompt and efficient manner.

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.

Server engineer vs windows system administrator salary

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

Server EngineerWindows System Administrator
Average salary$105,940$79,845
Salary rangeBetween $76,000 And $146,000Between $60,000 And $104,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASunnyvale, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyMetaMeta
Best paying industryTelecommunicationFinance

Differences between server engineer and windows system administrator education

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

Server EngineerWindows System Administrator
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Server engineer vs windows system administrator demographics

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

Server EngineerWindows System Administrator
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 91.9% Female, 8.1%Male, 88.3% Female, 11.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 12.1% White, 62.1% 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 Percentage9%9%

Differences between server engineer and windows system administrator duties and responsibilities

Server engineer example responsibilities.

  • Work with SAN, database, network, and backup administrators to deploy and manage infrastructure as a team.
  • Maintain, monitor, manage and right size the VM environment using industry virtualization tools on a daily basis.
  • Deploy and manage Citrix environments utilizing publish desktops and publish applications to make available to users both internally and externally.
  • Convert to GC and DNS server and DHCP server.
  • Used PowerShell to script DNS changes on all servers in company.
  • Build networks from the ground up and select the server hardware OS and software base on the customer needs.
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Server engineer vs windows system administrator skills

Common server engineer skills
  • Windows Server, 10%
  • PowerShell, 6%
  • Linux, 5%
  • Java, 5%
  • Microsoft Windows, 4%
  • SAN, 3%
Common windows system administrator skills
  • Windows Server, 9%
  • Infrastructure, 7%
  • PowerShell, 7%
  • Troubleshoot, 6%
  • Linux, 5%
  • SCCM, 4%

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