Systems support administrator vs network administrator

The differences between systems support 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 systems support administrator and a network administrator. Additionally, a systems support administrator has an average salary of $86,448, which is higher than the $71,357 average annual salary of a network administrator.

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

Systems support administrator vs network administrator overview

	Systems Support Administrator	Network Administrator
Yearly salary	$86,448	$71,357
Hourly rate	$41.56	$34.31
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	192,994	106,886
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does a systems support administrator do?

A system administrator acquires, installs, or upgrades computer software and components. System administrators perform routine automation of the computer system. They maintain the security policies of organizations or institutions. It is their job to supervise or train their staff or provide support for different projects. They also determine the problems found in the system, analyze the issues, and do repairs whenever necessary. The skills they need include scripting languages, security and monitoring, and account access management.

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.

Systems support administrator vs network administrator salary

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

	Systems Support Administrator	Network Administrator
Average salary	$86,448	$71,357
Salary range	Between $67,000 And $110,000	Between $56,000 And $90,000
Highest paying City	San Jose, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	Deft	Google
Best paying industry	Professional	Finance

Differences between systems support administrator and network administrator education

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

	Systems Support Administrator	Network Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	Stanford University	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Systems support administrator vs network administrator demographics

Here are the differences between systems support administrators' and network administrators' demographics:

	Systems Support Administrator	Network Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 79.3% Female, 20.7%	Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 10.1% White, 63.0% 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 systems support administrator and network administrator duties and responsibilities

Systems support administrator example responsibilities.

Manage projects such as server migrations and mass client OS migrations.
Authore and maintain shell and Perl scripts to automate administration tasks for infrastructure management.
Maintain Unix mail, news, web, and directory servers and DNS records.
Monitor SharePoint timer jobs, search crawls, and ensure all services are properly running.
Work with OS team in realizing the DR environment and test the periodic working of the DR environment.
Support the implementation of VMware hardware and operating systems solutions to provide hosting services to multiple data centers.

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

Systems support administrator vs network administrator skills

Common systems support administrator skills

Troubleshoot, 7%
Linux, 6%
SQL, 6%
Customer Service, 6%
Database, 5%
OS, 4%

Common network administrator skills

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

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Systems Support Administrator
Systems Support Administrator vs Network Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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