How to become a Network and Computer Systems Administrator 2024

Network and Computer Systems Administrator Install, configure, and maintain an organization's local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), data communications network, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers. Perform system monitoring and verify the integrity and availability of hardware, network, and server resources and systems. Review system and application logs and verify completion of scheduled jobs, including system backups. Analyze network and server resource consumption and control user access. Install and upgrade software and maintain software licenses. May assist in network modeling, analysis, planning, and coordination between network and data communications hardware and software.

Network and Computer Systems Administrator is Also Know as

In different settings, Network and Computer Systems Administrator is titled as

Information Analyst
Information Systems Manager (IS Manager)
Information Technology Specialist (IT Specialist)
LAN Specialist (Local Area Network Specialist)
Local Area Network Administrator (LAN Administrator)
Network Administrator
Network Coordinator
Network Manager
Systems Administrator

Education and Training of Network and Computer Systems Administrator

Network and Computer Systems Administrator is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Network and Computer Systems Administrator

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Education Required for Network and Computer Systems Administrator

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Degrees Related to Network and Computer Systems Administrator

Training Required for Network and Computer Systems Administrator

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Network and Computer Systems Administrator in different industries are

What Do Network and Computer Systems Administrator do?

Perform data backups and disaster recovery operations.
Maintain and administer computer networks and related computing environments, including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all configurations.
Plan, coordinate, and implement network security measures to protect data, software, and hardware.
Operate master consoles to monitor the performance of computer systems and networks and to coordinate computer network access and use.
Perform routine network startup and shutdown procedures, and maintain control records.
Design, configure, and test computer hardware, networking software and operating system software.
Recommend changes to improve systems and network configurations, and determine hardware or software requirements related to such changes.
Confer with network users about solutions to existing system problems.
Monitor network performance to determine whether adjustments are needed and where changes will be needed in the future.
Train people in computer system use.
Load computer tapes and disks, and install software and printer paper or forms.
Gather data pertaining to customer needs, and use the information to identify, predict, interpret, and evaluate system and network requirements.
Analyze equipment performance records to determine the need for repair or replacement.
Maintain logs related to network functions, as well as maintenance and repair records.
Maintain an inventory of parts for emergency repairs.
Coordinate with vendors and with company personnel to facilitate purchases.
Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve hardware, software, or other network and system problems, and replace defective components when necessary.
Configure, monitor, and maintain email applications or virus protection software.
Research new technologies by attending seminars, reading trade articles, or taking classes, and implement or recommend the implementation of new technologies.
Implement and provide technical support for voice services and equipment, such as private branch exchange, voice mail system, and telecom system.

Qualities of Good Network and Computer Systems Administrator

Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.

Technology Skills required for Network and Computer Systems Administrator

Access management software
Active directory software
Adexa eGPS Suite
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe ActionScript
Adobe Dreamweaver
Advanced business application programming ABAP
AJAX
Amazon DynamoDB
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2
Amazon Redshift
Amazon Simple Storage Service S3
Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormation
Amazon Web Services AWS software
Ansible software
Apache Ant
Apache Cassandra
Apache Groovy
Apache Hadoop
Apache Hive
Apache HTTP Server
Apache Kafka
Apache Maven
Apache Pig
Apache Solr
Apache Spark
Apache Struts
Apache Subversion SVN
Apache Tomcat
Apple macOS
Application management software
Atlassian Bamboo
Atlassian Confluence
Atlassian JIRA
Automated installation software
Bash
Berkeley Internet Domain Name BIND
Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge
Blackboard software
C
C#
C++
Chef
Cisco Systems CiscoWorks
Cisco Webex
Citrix cloud computing software
Citrix XenApp
Command interpreters
Common business oriented language COBOL
Computer aided design and drafting CADD software
Computer based training software
Computer system diagnostics software
Configuration management software
Customer information control system CICS
Dartware InterMapper
Dassault Systemes CATIA
Database software
Delphi Technology
Diagramming software
Django
Docker
Domain name system DNS
Drupal
Dynamic host configuration protocol DHCP
Dynamic hypertext markup language DHTML
Eclipse IDE
Elasticsearch
Element management software
Encryption software
Enterprise application integration EAI software
Enterprise JavaBeans
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Epic Systems
ESRI ArcGIS software
Ethereal
Extensible hypertext markup language XHTML
Extensible markup language XML
FileMaker Pro
Firewall software
Geographic information system GIS software
Git
GitHub
Go
Google Sites
Help desk software
Hewlett Packard HP-UX
Hewlett Packard LoadRunner
Hewlett-Packard HP Network Node Manager
Hibernate ORM
Honeypot
Human resource management software HRMS
Hypertext markup language HTML
IBM Cognos Impromptu
IBM Director
IBM Domino
IBM InfoSphere DataStage
IBM NetView
IBM Notes
IBM Power Systems software
IBM Tivoli software
IBM WebSphere
Integrated development environment IDE software
Intrusion prevention system IPS
JavaScript
JavaScript Object Notation JSON
Job control language JCL
jQuery
Jupyter Notebook
KornShell
LAMP Stack
Lavalys Everest
Linux
LogMatrix NerveCenter
Mac HelpMate
Management information base MIB software
Marketo Marketing Automation
McAfee
Micromuse NetCool
Microsoft .NET Framework
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Active Directory
Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
Microsoft ActiveX
Microsoft ASP.NET
Microsoft ASP.NET Core MVC
Microsoft Azure software
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics GP
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerShell
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services SSIS
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services SSRS
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visual Basic
Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications VBA
Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition VBScript
Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows Server
Microsoft Windows Sysprep
Microsoft Windows Terminal Services Access Manager
MicroStrategy
MongoDB
Moodle
Multi-router traffic grapher MRTG software
MySQL
Nagios
NetSuite ERP
Network address management software
Network addressable storage NAS software
Network and application load and performance testing software
Network and component performance analysis software
Network and system vulnerability assessment software
Network availability monitoring software
Network documentation software
Network intrusion detection software
Network intrusion prevention systems NIPS
Network management software
Network modeling, mapping, and analysis software
Network shutdown software
Network traffic flow monitoring and analysis software
Network traffic probe software
Network, server and operating system optimization software
Node.js
NortonLifeLock cybersecurity software
NoSQL
Novell NetWare Management Station
Online traffic calculator software
Open source routing protocols OSPF
OpenService Open NerveCenter
Operating system process control software
Operating system software
Optical network management software
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
Oracle Database
Oracle E-Business Suite Financials
Oracle Fusion Applications
Oracle Fusion Middleware
Oracle Hyperion
Oracle Java
Oracle JavaServer Pages JSP
Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
Oracle JDBC
Oracle Net Manager
Oracle PeopleSoft
Oracle PeopleSoft Financials
Oracle PL/SQL
Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio Management
Oracle Solaris
Oracle Taleo
Oracle WebLogic Server
Packet filter software
Packet tracing software
ParentSquare
Password management software
Patch and update management software
Perforce Helix software
Perl
PHP
Ping Identity
PostgreSQL
Puppet
Python
Qlik Tech QlikView
Quest BigBrother
Quest Erwin Data Modeler
Quest Foglight
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat WildFly
Relational database management software
Remote desktop control software
Remote monitoring software
Requirements management software
Root cause analysis software
Root kit detection software
Ruby
Ruby on Rails
SAP Business Objects
SAP Crystal Reports
SAP software
SAS
Secure shell SSH software
Security incident management software
Shell script
Simple network management protocol SNMP software
Skype
Snort
SolarWinds
Splunk Enterprise
StataCorp Stata
Storage area network SAN software
Structured query language SQL
Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
Swift
Symantec Ghost Solution Suite
System and data disaster recovery software
Systems and applications migration software
Systems integration software
Tableau
Tcpdump
Teradata Database
TKSoftware RCM software
Transact-SQL
Ubuntu
UNIX
UNIX Shell
Veritas NetBackup
Virtual local area network management software
Virtual network computing VNC software
Virtual private networking VPN software
VMware
Voice over internet protocol VoIP system software
Wireshark
Zabbix

US Universities

How to become Network and Computer Systems Administrator in 2024