sys admin vs network admin

[sulekha]

Hi all,

what exactly is the difference b/w sys admin and a n/w admin ? in my experience they both are the same, isn't it ? , but i keep hearing from some people that they are different ? what exactly is the true story ?

[lloyd_b]

Hi all,

what exactly is the difference b/w sys admin and a n/w admin ? in my experience they both are the same, isn't it ? , but i keep hearing from some people that they are different ? what exactly is the true story ?

In some companies (especially smaller ones), one person does both jobs. But properly speaking, these *are* two different jobs.

Consider a larger company, with dozens of servers, plus assorted routers, switches, bridges, etc. In this case, the system admin will handle the maintenance on the servers (keeping them updated, backed up, etc), while the network admin will maintain the routers, keep the firewall updated, etc.

There *is* a lot of overlap between the two jobs - a good network admin needs to be at least moderately competent as a sys admin, while a sys admin should be able to handle at least some of the network admin work. But when dealing with large networks of many computers, the two jobs tend to diverge, with each one requiring more specialized knowledge in one area.

Lloyd B.

[Sef]

Moved to community cafe.

[Dr Small]

I do both jobs on our network. But a system admin keeps the servers/system in a complete operational state, whereas the network admin solves network problems, assures the router and firewalls are in working order and up to date.

[jonabyte]

I was a sysadmin for a large company and the difference there was basically I managed servers and the networkadmin managed the network i.e. routers, switches ip settings.
IMHO, I think they are separate jobs/functions.

Its more up to the company to determine what the job roles entail.