Backup Administrator / Storage Manager

Andretii

Please educate me in the path towards acquiring the necessary skills for a Backup Administrator / Storage Manager position.

Right now I am studying for MCSA/E don't know which to stay yet.

sthomas

Experience is key, without it you won't get there. If I wanted a position like that (if it is what I think it is) I would do A+ and then Server+. After that go for MCSA/MCSE. Keep in mind that A+/Server+ count toward MCSA.

Andretii

sthomas wrote:

Experience is key, without it you won't get there. If I wanted a position like that (if it is what I think it is) I would do A+ and then Server+. After that go for MCSA/MCSE. Keep in mind that A+/Server+ count toward MCSA.

Thank you.

Btw, I see you have MCSA and studying for MCSE. Exams taken from the 1st get transfered to MCSE so you don't have to take them again?

dynamik

Yes. The MCSE is essentially an extension of the MCSA.

MCSA: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcsa/windows2003/default.mspx
MCSE: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcse/windows2003/default.mspx

elover_jm

sthomas wrote:

Experience is key, without it you won't get there.

How the heck is he going to get experience in that area without knowledge :

sthomas

You generally don't start out as an Administrator or Manager in IT without some experience. So most people have to start out at the bottom and work there way up. Usually starting out at help desk/tech support then on to an Admin position. You gain knowledge through the experience you acquire working in IT. When I said experience is key I meant you can't just start out with that type of job without some IT experience to back it up, after all how can someone be a SAN administrator if they have no experience as a Network or Server admin. That is all just my opinion of course.

elover_jm

i'm not disputing the relevance of Experience in the field, but what i'm saying is >> Knowledge acquired through studying for certification is just as important as experience that one has.

If i'm conducting interviews and: (1) first guy has ten yrs experience as system Engineer
(2) Second guy has 5 yrs experience with the latest Cert in tht field.

I'll prefer to offer the guy who has both.

One can gain experience based on know how, but not knowing the reason why he or she does the job. So i don't think it's reasonable to discourage or tell someone not to persue certifications simply because of lack of experience.

sthomas

elover_jm wrote:

So i don't think it's reasonable to discourage or tell someone not to persue certifications simply because of lack of experience.

I agree with you 100%

JDMurray

Education, certification, and experience are three different things. You need them all, as no one of them can replace the other two.

Kaminsky

One thing I will add to this. Backup Administrator is a bit odd and in the real world, rather limiting.

To be honest, most bakups are done by the server admin juniors. It's only when you get to bigger server clusters/farms that you get a dedicated role to look after the backups and you can bet your life, it won't be highly paid! I have a friend (well, aquaintance) who looks after a farm full of rack mounted servers, 15 servers high and the overall area the size of 4 English football pitches and he doesn't get paid that much to be fair in comparison to the £750k worth of equipment he has control over.

Just a heads up!

keatron

While everything you're saying is probably true, I know of a couple of SANS\BACKUP Engineers who make well of 100K. It all depends on so many things.

nitesh1991

hello ther,,
i am presently working as a storage and backup admin in hp(india)...and i wanted do career in this field...so anybody can suggest me wich certifications or exams should i appear ...presently i have no certification....plz help...