Network Engineer

 Network Engineer Definition

A network engineer  is a technology professional who has the skills to plan, deploy, and monitor computer networks that support internal voice, data, video, and wireless network services.

Although the job titles network engineer and network administrator are sometimes used synonymously, a network engineer generally has more executive responsibilities than a network administrator. The engineering side of things tends to be more concerned with planning, design, and technical specifications, while the administrative side of things is mostly about daily maintenance, management, and problem-solving efforts.

Job titles can also be differentiated by education level and / or income. In general, a network engineer is more trained and earns more than a network administrator.

Responsibilities of a Network Engineer

Network engineers focus on providing highly available network infrastructure to keep IT activities online and on-site for users. Network engineers often overlap other roles, such as computer network architects or security systems engineers, and work internally within an organization or as external consultants.

Network engineers design and implement network configurations, resolve performance issues, perform network monitoring, and configure security systems such as firewalls. They often report to an CIO, an information security officer, and other line managers to discuss and decide on general business objectives, policies, and state of the art updates. network. In many situations, network engineers work closely with project managers and other engineers, manage capacity, and provide remote or on-site support.

Qualification for a Network Engineer

Several universities and other institutions offer training programs in network engineering. A network engineer may only need an associate's degree to get an entry level job, but most positions will require a bachelor's degree in computer science or additional experience. Many network engineers also come from fields such as electrical engineering, physics or mathematics. For many engineers, the additional qualifications and training are closely linked to the Cisco Engineering Certification Program, which offers five levels of professional development. Other certifications are available from suppliers and organizations such as Juniper Networks, Microsoft, Aruba, Alcatel-Lucent, Riverbed Technology Inc., SolarWinds, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Extreme Networks Inc. and the IPv6 Forum.

In addition to technical skills, network engineers need analytical, leadership and organizational skills. It is also important to pay attention to details and the ability to solve problems. Engineers must be able to understand complex networks and detect problems or suggest ways to improve them. They must also be able to work collaboratively, as well as instruct other engineers and support staff to operate the network. And they must be flexible enough to work with engineers and industry colleagues who may not understand networks.

Increasingly, network engineers also need to know about application and software development, reflecting the growing role of automation and software-defined networks. Therefore, engineers need to understand traffic flows, application priority, and data transport. In addition, engineers must also be familiar with hyperconvergence, virtualization, security, containers, wide area networks and storage engineering.