What's the difference?

Discussion in 'Networks' started by nugget, Apr 16, 2004.

  1. nugget
    Honorary Member

    nugget Junior toady

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    What is the difference between a system administrator and a network administrator?

    Just wondering as it seems to me to be the same thing, just depending on the size of the company. If the company is small then the same person does 'both' jobs, in a larger company both 'parts' of the job are larger and need a dedicated person for each part.

    Does this seem right??
     
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  2. mattwest

    mattwest Megabyte Poster

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    From my point of view a network administrator deals more with The hubs, switches, routers, network connections etc.

    A systems administrator deals more with the server side of things, setting up a server, user accounts, web servers, admin etc etc.

    But the line is very blurred. I call myself a IT Systems Administrator, but i'm also a network administrator, so unless your in a very big company where the roles are split, its hard to tell!

    Just my interpretation of it, i may be wrong!

    :roll:

    Matt
     
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  3. Jakamoko
    Honorary Member

    Jakamoko On the move again ...

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    I'll be either. thanks :)
     
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  4. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I think it would depend on how the job description is written, but I've heard the two terms used interchangably. Frankly, they can call me anything they want as long as I have a job. :wink:
     
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  5. nugget
    Honorary Member

    nugget Junior toady

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    Matt, thats what I was thinking too that they are basically parts of the same job.
     
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  6. Phoenix
    Honorary Member

    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    In modern small/medium size firms the difference is almost minimal, purly a HR coin toss
    however it stems from old days where huge mainframes were common, a system administrator would admin that mainframe, would be skilled in the language it used, and the hardware and software, he could pretty much fix bugs on the fly with work arounds and such coded by hand, to keep the system running
    back then networks were not so common

    these days, a system admin tends to manage alot more than one system, so is often referred to as a network administrator, he admins the network, and the devices on it
    those that specialise in network equipment are generally network engineers/designers etc, but its mainly a HR coin flip again
    pay attention to the job description mainly not the job title :)
     
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