system and network admin difference

[sample text]

it's kinda dumb to ask here,but i like that website cuz ppl actually answer, so i will give it a shot.both system administrator and network administrator must know everything about the network structures,but what's the difference between both professions?

[Beef Boss]

I'm going on a whim, but I'd say they're pretty almost the same,  probably,  kinda. I mean network admins also set up the systems to their network. 

[Anghammarad]

System admin is usually client and server type of job, while network admin usually goes to routing, switching, firewalling, vpn, proxy server, webserver etc. related stuff nowadays.

 

in the "dark ages" Sysadmin or Network admin were kind of the same jobs, but due to the ever growing systems, hardware, software infrastructure they got split. 

[Ithanul]

Uhhhhh, no those are not the same, not by a long shot.

 

A system admin in a general sense manages servers, the applications services on those servers, and many other types of servers (these can vary from game servers, database servers, AD servers, WSUS servers, DHCP servers, DNS servers, and so forth).

 

A network admin in a general sense manages the network of switches, routers, hubs, firewalls, proxies, bridges, and other network devices.  These are the peeps that get the packets clients to servers, servers to servers, servers to clients, routers to routers, and so forth.   If the net admin is like a backbone level one, these the chaps that ensure the big paths route the ISPs' traffic around (these dudes make big, big bucks).

 

There still some cases where a sysadmin and netadmin is the same person.  Like in my case when on deployed orders, I'm a sysadmin state side, down range...I have to handle radios, the network, client issues, and the servers.  And the printers....o god the printers.   ....darn stinkers break them so much.

 

Still it is good for a sysadmin to understand at least some basic network knowledge.  Quick way to find out if they now some fun terms and jokes around them, say PEBKAC (<-  this one should get a good chuckle received).

[sample text]

9 hours ago, Ithanul said:

Uhhhhh, no those are not the same, not by a long shot.

 

A system admin in a general sense manages servers, the applications services on those servers, and many other types of servers (these can vary from game servers, database servers, AD servers, WSUS servers, DHCP servers, DNS servers, and so forth).

 

A network admin in a general sense manages the network of switches, routers, hubs, firewalls, proxies, bridges, and other network devices.  These are the peeps that get the packets clients to servers, servers to servers, servers to clients, routers to routers, and so forth.   If the net admin is like a backbone level one, these the chaps that ensure the big paths route the ISPs' traffic around (these dudes make big, big bucks).

 

There still some cases where a sysadmin and netadmin is the same person.  Like in my case when on deployed orders, I'm a sysadmin state side, down range...I have to handle radios, the network, client issues, and the servers.  And the printers....o god the printers.   ....darn stinkers break them so much.

 

Still it is good for a sysadmin to understand at least some basic network knowledge.  Quick way to find out if they now some fun terms and jokes around them, say PEBKAC (<-  this one should get a good chuckle received).

in my country(bulgaria) we call the sys admins "boys for everything" because they do all the stuff.but is it a part of their job to fix hardware problems? some bulgarian blogger said something like "my mom called a sys admin cuz her keyboard wasnt working and she needed some help cuz i wasn't at home" and im like wtf?really?ppl call sys admins even for broken keyboards? or let's say if CPU or Server is broken,are they the guys who have to fix that?

[dalekphalm]

9 hours ago, sample text said:

in my country(bulgaria) we call the sys admins "boys for everything" because they do all the stuff.but is it a part of their job to fix hardware problems? some bulgarian blogger said something like "my mom called a sys admin cuz her keyboard wasnt working and she needed some help cuz i wasn't at home" and im like wtf?really?ppl call sys admins even for broken keyboards? or let's say if CPU or Server is broken,are they the guys who have to fix that?

In most large corporations, no, a SysAdmin would not be responsible for replacing a keyboard.

 

A SysAdmin is basically a server admin. They manage the servers - they would likely be responsible for hardware for the servers as well. But most bigger IT departments would have a "Desktop Tech" or "Computer Tech" who handles stuff like dead keyboards, replacing monitors, swapping RAM, doing basic OS stuff, etc.

 

For smaller IT departments, there might be more fuzzy lines, or no distinction at all.

 

Where I work, I'm essentially a SysAdmin, and a general IT technician. We have 3 techs total, including me, and we're all jack of all trades (though one guy is our informal Network Admin as well).