Storage administrator vs network administrator

The differences between storage administrators 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 storage administrator and a network administrator. Additionally, a storage administrator has an average salary of $92,434, which is higher than the $71,357 average annual salary of a network administrator.

The top three skills for a storage administrator include linux, switches and NAS. The most important skills for a network administrator are switches, windows server, and troubleshoot.

Storage administrator vs network administrator overview

	Storage Administrator	Network Administrator
Yearly salary	$92,434	$71,357
Hourly rate	$44.44	$34.31
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	71,753	106,886
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does a storage administrator do?

A storage administrator is typically in charge of managing and storing company data, ensuring its safety and accuracy. Their responsibilities typically revolve around devising strategies for data storage, developing and installing storage systems and back-ups, identifying errors and inconsistencies, troubleshooting, and performing regular maintenance checks to ensure the efficiency and security of storage systems. Furthermore, as a storage administrator, it is essential to produce progress reports and maintain records of all transactions, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

What does a network administrator do?

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.

Storage administrator vs network administrator salary

Storage administrators and network administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Storage Administrator	Network Administrator
Average salary	$92,434	$71,357
Salary range	Between $65,000 And $130,000	Between $56,000 And $90,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	The Citadel	Google
Best paying industry	Health Care	Finance

Differences between storage administrator and network administrator education

There are a few differences between a storage administrator and a network administrator in terms of educational background:

	Storage Administrator	Network Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	-	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Storage administrator vs network administrator demographics

Here are the differences between storage administrators' and network administrators' demographics:

	Storage Administrator	Network Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 89.3% Female, 10.7%	Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 14.0% White, 61.0% 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%

Differences between storage administrator and network administrator duties and responsibilities

Storage administrator example responsibilities.

Accomplish using mediums such as: FICON, SNA, ESCON, IP, FC, & ISCSI.
Manage, and deploy LUNS from EMC storage frames to multiple servers using the UNISHERE for VNX and VMAX.
Support teams which manage CentOS.
Manage and support SRDF replications between DR data centers.
Create CIFS, setting up permissions as per customer requirements and manage DFS.
Manage users and groups on a large scale in NIS and LDAP environments.

Network administrator example responsibilities.

Lead and manage desktop standards project.
Manage backups using EMC Networker and Avamar.
Manage Solarwinds to monitor servers and networks for all locations.
Manage all provisioning and technical issues for new customer IP blocks.
Deploy and manage storage (windows file servers and NetApp NAS).
Manage all technology: Novell, Microsoft, Cisco, email, library, labs, dorms, programs

Storage administrator vs network administrator skills

Common storage administrator skills

Linux, 7%
Switches, 6%
NAS, 5%
Troubleshoot, 5%
Isilon, 4%
VNX, 4%

Common network administrator skills

Switches, 7%
Windows Server, 6%
Troubleshoot, 5%
Network Hardware, 5%
Routers, 4%
Lan Wan, 4%

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Storage Administrator vs Network Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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