The network administrator (or "network admin") is usually the level of technical/network staff in an organization and will rarely be involved with direct user support. The network administrator will concentrate on the overall integrity of the network, server deployment, security, and ensuring that the network connectivity throughout a company's LAN/WAN infrastructure is on par with technical considerations at the network level of an organization's hierarchy. Network administrators are considered Tier 3 support personnel that only work on break/fix issues that could not be resolved at the Tier1 (helpdesk) or Tier 2 (desktop/network technician) levels.
Depending on the company, the Network Administrator may also design and deploy networks. However, these tasks may be assigned to a network engineer should one be available to the company. A network engineer designs, implements, and/or troubleshoots computer networks. In general, a network engineer will not regularly perform system administration tasks, but will instead concentrate on high-level network related duties such as network architecture, network design, choosing of network devices, and network policies. Network engineers will rarely be involved with direct user support, as they are normally placed as tier three support.[1].
The actual role of the Network Administrator will vary from company to company, but will commonly include activities and tasks such as network address assignment, assignment of routing protocols and routing table configuration as well as configuration of authentication and authorization – directory services. It often includes maintenance of network facilities in individual machines, such as drivers and settings of personal computers as well as printers and such. It sometimes also includes maintenance of certain network servers: file servers, VPN gateways, intrusion detection systems, etc.
Network specialists and analysts concentrate on the network design and security, particularly troubleshooting and/or debugging network-related problems. Their work can also include the maintenance of the network's authorization infrastructure, as well as network backup systems.
The administrator is responsible for the security of the network and for assigning IP addresses to the devices connected to the networks. Assigning IP addresses gives the subnet administrator some control over the personnel who connect to the subnet. It also helps ensure that the administrator knows each system that is connected and who is personally responsible for the system.
Duties of a network administrator
Many organizations use a three tier support staff solution, with tier one (help desk) personnel handling the initial calls, tier two (technicians and pc support analysts) and tier three (network administrators). Most of those organizations follow a fixed staffing ratio, and being a network administrator is either the top job, or next to top job, within the technical support department.
Network administrators are responsible for making sure that the computer hardware and network infrastructure for an IT organization is properly maintained. They are deeply involved in the procurement of new hardware (For example: Does it meet existing standardization requirements? Does it do the job required?), rolling out new software installs, maintaining the disk images for new computer installs (usually by having a standardized OS and application install), making sure that licenses are paid for and up to date for software that need it, maintaining the standards for server installations and applications, and monitoring the performance of the network, checking for security breaches, poor data management practices and more.
Most network administrator positions require a breadth of technical knowledge and the ability to learn the ins and outs of new networking and server software packages quickly. While designing and drafting a network is usually the job of a network engineer, many organizations roll that function into a network administrator position as well.
One of the chief jobs of a network administrator is connectivity. Network administrators are in charge of making sure that connectivity works for all users in their organization, and for making sure that data security for connections to the internet is properly handled. (For network administrators doing security aspects, this can be a full time job.)
Trouble tickets work their way through the help desk, then through the analyst level support, before reaching the network administrator's level. As a result, in their day-to-day operations, network administrators should not be dealing directly with end users as a routine function. Most of their jobs should be on scheduling and implementing routine maintenance tasks, updating disaster prevention programs, making sure that network backups are run and doing test restores to make sure that those restores are sound.
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[edit]Training and certifications for network administrators
Cisco CCENT
Cisco CCNA
Cisco CCIP
Cisco CCNP
Cisco CCIE
Microsoft Certified System Administrator
Microsoft Certified System Engineer
Microsoft Certified IT Professional
CompTIA's Network+
Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
(source:wikipedia)
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