Average salary for a sysadmin?

TheCanuck

Senior member
Apr 28, 2003
373
0
0
So this year I was put in charge of setting up and running a few of our department's newer servers. While I appreciate the opportunity, I've found that I'm doing the work of two to three people and feel my salary is a fair bit lower than the average sysadmin in the IT field. So I thought I'd consult the ATOT braintrust and see what I'm worth (let the insults begin!).

I have a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, and an MBA in Information Systems but no certs at the moment. This is what I'm working with:

1) 16-core Opteron, 32GB, 2TB Linux application / file server
2) Dual core Opteron, 8GB, 2TB Linux application / file sever
3) Dual core Opteron IBM X-series, 2TB file server
4) Dell POS 1TB file server
5) 2x15 TB SAN arrays (24 - 750GB SATAs each)
6) 1xUltrium LTO3 tape library
7) Qlogic SAN switch

I basically setup the entire system myself, figured out how to bond the ethernet ports, and setup multipath on the SAN arrays, etc which wasn't exactly easy since the support in Linux for these arrays is minimal. I'm responsible for figuring out the backup scheme, disaster recovery, writing the operations manual, getting my boss coffee, shining his shoes etc. I'm also helping to upgrade another group's 10-node Linux cluster and still required to support another 70 - 100 users in a mixed Windows / Linux environment.

Don't get me wrong, I like the work but the wife is really getting ticked off at me for working all the time on this thing and not bringing home enough sugar! I'm beginning to wonder if I should just throw in the towel and find a job in sales or clean toilets for a living -- both of which probably pay better. So fellow members of ATOT, what should someone in this position be making?
 

thraashman

Lifer
Apr 10, 2000
11,108
1,575
126
I know a bunch of people who work for Google at the data center here and from what I've heard they started around $40k for the Linux Sysadmin job they're doing. But this is also with Google benefits, so it feels like more than $40k
 

TheCanuck

Senior member
Apr 28, 2003
373
0
0
Originally posted by: bapace
what are your uptime requirements?

All the systems need to run 24/7. This is in the medical research field so we have people accessing them all hours of the day, running analyses for weeks at a time etc.
 

narcotic

Golden Member
Jul 15, 2004
1,236
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I didn't quite get your location, but with what you specified I guess anywhere between 60k-80k should be right.
 

bapace

Senior member
Jul 7, 2004
720
1
0
Originally posted by: TheCanuck
Originally posted by: bapace
what are your uptime requirements?

All the systems need to run 24/7. This is in the medical research field so we have people accessing them all hours of the day, running analyses for weeks at a time etc.

What I meant is, is this .99999% uptime requirements for the year? as in, how fast do you have to get to work and fix this stuff when it breaks.
 

TheCanuck

Senior member
Apr 28, 2003
373
0
0
While it's never been said what the uptime requirement is, I'd estimate that it's around 99 - 99.9%. But it's also in the research / academic field so they're cheap as hell and don't supply enough spare parts if something major were to blow -- i.e. motherboard. I'm always monitoring it from home, remotely administer it, receive emails / pages if anything does go wrong and would need to drive out there if it went down since no one else knows how it works yet. Since I've started working on this thing I'm probably working between 55 - 70 hrs a week.

Basically I was told to just "Make it go...".
 

aurareturn

Senior member
Jul 1, 2005
305
0
0
Originally posted by: TheCanuck
Originally posted by: bapace
80-95K here in Florida.

You're kidding right? I'm not making half that in PA! Time to start dusting off the resume...

Move your ass to California, specifically, the Bay Area if you want to make big bucks.
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
Originally posted by: TheCanuck
While it's never been said what the uptime requirement is, I'd estimate that it's around 99 - 99.9%. But it's also in the research / academic field so they're cheap as hell and don't supply enough spare parts if something major were to blow -- i.e. motherboard. I'm always monitoring it from home, remotely administer it, receive emails / pages if anything does go wrong and would need to drive out there if it went down since no one else knows how it works yet. Since I've started working on this thing I'm probably working between 55 - 70 hrs a week.

Basically I was told to just "Make it go...".

"making it work" is the easy part.

"making it work properly without somebody spending 70 hours a week watching it" is the difference you need to make.

In a well designed system things don't break (well, they break, but no service is impacted). And when they do, it's not a big deal at all...."oh, something broke...schedule maintenance on it."

Think about this for a moment. Why would a motherboard failure cause an outage? It shouldn't. No way should something like that cause an outage. This would be your job as a good systems administrator. And for this you can command 100K+ in a medium cost of living area.
 

pstylesss

Platinum Member
Mar 21, 2007
2,914
0
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I'm sure if you represent your case well, they will give you the raise you deserve... if these people are human. Show what others are making in the same field, with your experience and whatnot. Also, call around to similar agencies and see what they are paying their IT staff. Be sure to find out what those IT staff are working with and how many they have.

And you could give them a demonstration of how much you're worth.
 

homercles337

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2004
6,340
3
71
Originally posted by: TheCanuck
While it's never been said what the uptime requirement is, I'd estimate that it's around 99 - 99.9%. But it's also in the research / academic field so they're cheap as hell and don't supply enough spare parts if something major were to blow -- i.e. motherboard. I'm always monitoring it from home, remotely administer it, receive emails / pages if anything does go wrong and would need to drive out there if it went down since no one else knows how it works yet. Since I've started working on this thing I'm probably working between 55 - 70 hrs a week.

Basically I was told to just "Make it go...".

Expect about 10-15% less than market for academic. Im a staff scientist at an academic institute and im underpaid by about 20%.
 

slag

Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
10,473
81
101
Windows SA's typically make less than their Unix counterparts also.

In the KC area, I'd expect a 2-3 yr experienced windows SA to make approx 40-45k.

Same experienced unix admin would make 45-50.

I see these are linux systems, i'm just trying to show the difference in SA pay.
 

Darkstar757

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2003
3,190
6
81
Man as an experienced Linux sysadmin no way in hell do I take a job for 40-50k you better try 70 to 90k.
 

GhettoFob

Diamond Member
Apr 27, 2001
6,800
0
76
I wouldn't do that job for less than 80k, but again, that depends where you live...
 

TheCanuck

Senior member
Apr 28, 2003
373
0
0
Well considering this is Pittsburgh and the academic field, I don't think that the salaries are going to be in the 80K area...but I would have hoped for somewhere closer to 60K. The wife does want to move somewhere warmer so I may need to test the job markets in places like Florida, Cali, Arizona, Nevada etc. Looks like there quite a few high paying jobs in California, but the cost of living may be a little too high...Thing that sucks is we just built a house here last year!
 

moshquerade

No Lifer
Nov 1, 2001
61,504
12
56
Originally posted by: aurareturn
Originally posted by: TheCanuck
Originally posted by: bapace
80-95K here in Florida.

You're kidding right? I'm not making half that in PA! Time to start dusting off the resume...

Move your ass to California, specifically, the Bay Area if you want to make big bucks.

He could make big bucks, but it takes big bucks to live there. Real estate is really up there isn't it?
 

jadinolf

Lifer
Oct 12, 1999
20,952
3
81
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: aurareturn
Originally posted by: TheCanuck
Originally posted by: bapace
80-95K here in Florida.

You're kidding right? I'm not making half that in PA! Time to start dusting off the resume...

Move your ass to California, specifically, the Bay Area if you want to make big bucks.

He could make big bucks, but it takes big bucks to live there. Real estate is really up there isn't it?

Naw, that's just a nasty rumor.;)
 

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
1) 16-core Opteron, 32GB, 2TB Linux application / file server
2) Dual core Opteron, 8GB, 2TB Linux application / file sever
3) Dual core Opteron IBM X-series, 2TB file server
4) Dell POS 1TB file server
5) 2x15 TB SAN arrays (24 - 750GB SATAs each)
6) 1xUltrium LTO3 tape library
7) Qlogic SAN switch


Thats all? you set those up and just leave them they requre pretty much no babysitting.

you cant call yourself a sys admin unless you support 20 different applications for all depts in the entire company. build and maintain new servers in production, test and dev. support SQL and progress db's. Help the helpdesk when they cant solve a problem. bet bitched at by finance because a crystal report wont run or is returning wrong data and you didnt write the damn report. provide 24/7 pager rotation and get paid 33 bucks a day and 50 on holidays for it. send out daily reports on what broke, why it broke and what we are doing to prevent it from breaking again. get constant research request from customer service on certain issues which require plowing through large log files... come in at midnight once or twice a month to do scheduled upgrades we can not do them before midnight due to contractual aggrements and have only a 2 hour window to do them :|

yes im getting sick of IT. I do too much and im getting burned out. if we can hire a couple more people to spread out all the crap we support and critical applications then i may start liking it again. for all the crap that I and my other two co-workers do we should be making 80K+ but we dont we all are around in the low 60's.