13 Honest Data Center Technician Salaries

  data center technician salary

Salary averages can be misleading. One culprit? Geography. A salary in San Francisco doesn’t compare dollar-for-dollar to a salary in Charlotte. Another culprit? Math. Quite simply, outliers (i.e., expensive cities) skew the data. That seems obvious, right?

It’s easier to report a national average without context, but it’s better to look at regions than national averages to determine honest salary averages. That’s why we took a look at the salaries of data center technicians, by city (like we did for Information Security Analysts and Ethical Hackers).

Utilizing Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and local postings, we looked at salaries in 13 cities to get an accurate sense of the data. More importantly, we focused on cities that house large data centers.

It’s well known that more than 70 percent of the world’s internet traffic passes through Loudoun County in Northern Virginia. But, every one of these cities wooed companies to bring their data centers (and jobs) to their region with the two things every data center needs — cheap power and lots of land.

freelancer websites

 freelancer websites

It is difficult to get the ball rolling, but if you do some good work initially you'll get a lot of projects coming your way.

I started my journey as a freelance web developer in January. I had made a travel website for my college mini project and happened to get good grades for my work. My classmate (also my project teammate) asked me if I'd make his friends business website and I agreed.

The domain and hosting was already done, I had to just email the source files. I was lucky because I didn't have any idea about those two at that time.

Another friend of mine worked at a company part time and they approached me to work as a freelancer for them as they​ had a lot of workload. They approached solely on the basis of my first work.

I'd just say start small by making your family or a friend's or a relative's website, who are into business. Do good work there and then approach small startups or a friend in that field and show them your previous work. Keep getting better, because an opportunity can come knocking anytime, you have to be prepared

How can I get freelance work online?

 freelance workers online

Alternative workers account for about 10% of the nation's workforce, according to surveys done by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2005 and 2017, with the numbers holding steady during those 12 years. As of 2019, the 2017 survey is the most recent data. These are workers who do not hold consistent or permanent employment with a single employer and instead earn income through contract work, temporary jobs, or freelance work. This often is referred to as part of the gig economy.

Among this segment of the workforce are those who obtain freelance work online, which can be a great way to earn money on the side, perhaps get a foot in the door in the tech industry, or maybe build up a portfolio of work with the hope of securing a permanent position elsewhere.

One thing that most online freelance sites have in common is the need to build up a portfolio over time and to develop relationships with clients in order to get the best and highest-paying jobs. Don't expect this to happen overnight. Be willing early on to take some less appealing jobs for lower pay in order to show the quality of the work you can do. In time, this will help you to get better jobs for more money. Ideally, along the way, you'll make connections with some clients who will wish to go back to you for future jobs because they know they can count on you to be reliable and to do quality work.

Upwork

Upwork is the result of a merger between Elance and oDesk, both considered to be leaders in online freelancing in the past. Upwork markets itself as the world's largest freelance talent marketplace.

Freelancers on Upwork create profiles outlining their skills and experiences, along with their job histories and portfolios. Clients post job listings detailing their projects and what they’re looking for in a freelancer.

From there, freelancers submit proposals for projects they’re interested in doing. Clients can review freelancers' proposals, profiles, and portfolios, choose the one that best fits their needs, and place project funding in escrow.

Freelancers and clients then collaborate through an online work station, typically with no off-platform communication.

IT Security Specialist Skills & Responsibilities

 IT Security Specialists Defend an Organization's Information Systems. ... IT security specialists leverage an in-depth understanding of cyber security threats, technologies and countermeasures to ensure secure computer systems.

IT Security Specialists Defend an Organization’s Information Systems.

In today's era of rapidly escalating threats and sophisticated cyber warfare, organizations need to be vigilant in combating attackers and protecting information assets. IT security specialists leverage an in-depth understanding of cyber security threats, technologies and countermeasures to ensure secure computer systems. This often includes tasks like installing and configuring security software to prevent attacks, educating employees on data security, monitoring and protecting against network breaches, and responding to cyber attacks with the appropriate countermeasures.

Workforce demand for computer security specialists is high across all organizational structures and verticals, including corporations, schools, medical practices, and government agencies. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the IT security specialist job market will grow by 32% from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the 5% average for all occupations, placing it among the nation's fastest growing career paths.

Accredited universities and private computer schools offer college degrees, courses, and certificates in modern information security tools and technologies. Compare top-reviewed IT security training programs in the U.S., Canada and online.

a.k.a. IT Security Analyst | Information Security Professional | Cyber Security Analyst | Computer Security Specialist.

IT Security Specialist Skills & Responsibilities

Typical day-to-day duties and marketable cyber security skill sets include the following. IT security specialists:

• Develop plans to safeguard computer files against unauthorized modification, destruction or disclosure.
• Choose, implement, monitor and upgrade computer anti-virus and malware protection systems.
• Encrypt data transmissions and erect firewalls to conceal confidential information during transmit.
• Implement password authentication to keep unauthorized users from accessing sensitive data files.
• Modify security files to incorporate new software, correct errors, and change user access status.
• Perform risk assessments and tests on running data processing activities and security measures.
• Educate workers about computer security and promote security awareness and security protocols.
• Keep accurate and current backup files of all important data on the shared corporate network.
• IT security pros who specialize in computer forensics gather evidence for prosecuting cyber crimes.
• Computer forensics specialists can set up & operate an investigator’s lab, and process computer crime scenes.

Read this post from information security curriculum designer, Jason Nufryk, for a deeper look at marketable cyber security skills.

How to become a freelancer

freelancing sites

If you’re looking at Freelancer.com for work you can do from home, you’ve come to the right place. I’m a member of their site, so I can show you inside. Although I currently don't have any active gigs with Freelancer.com... as a full-time freelancer, I’ve worked with several similar sites and I can share some of those experiences as well. 

It seems more and more people are giving up their full-time jobs to go from the traditional worker/employee life to freelancing, which is why Freelancer.com and similar sites are becoming increasingly popular.

And I can understand why – even professionals today are seeking more independence and flexibility.

We're bombarded with the "freedom lifestyle" more than ever, and whether it's Instagram, YouTube, a travel blogger's website or some other platform... it's hard not to envy the lifestyle of those who have escaped the rat race and are now earning their incomes online. 

That's the promise of Freelancer.com, but can they deliver?

Are they even legit, or is Freelancer.com a scam? 

What is a security professional?

  network security professional

In this changing world, the new CISO needs to understand how information security can empower an organisation to meet its strategic goals. Equally, they must understand how it can make or break the organisation. They may also need to help the organisation move from compliance and crisis-driven strategies towards a more mature risk-based approach, where they spend more time reducing future risk and less on mitigating current threats and regulatory issues.https://www.fieldengineer.com/skills/certified-wireless-security-professional

A strategic mindset is required in order to be able to look at the changing threat landscape, understand the implications of developments in technology and working practices, and be able to interpret how this will affect the organisation.

CISOs must be allowed to assume a business-leadership position, dispelling the idea that security is a technology and support function. Strong communication skills are paramount, with the ability to influence at board level to ensure appropriate programmes are realised to maximise and prioritise best use of available resources. Where they should be positioned within the organisation will depend on the existing structures, but to work effectively there should be a dotted line to the chief information, risk and finance officers.

In addition, they must ensure that information security permeates the organisation. This ranges from understanding the information risks posed by new and existing ventures, developing secure systems and infrastructures, maintaining appropriate controls, implementing governance structures, and evangelising a strong security culture across the organisation at all levels.

It is a task that some, including the UK Government in its 2011 Cyber Security Strategy, are now calling information assurance. It represents maturation from IT security through information security to information assurance.

All this requires analytical, organisational, technical and communication skills. It is unlikely that one person will be able to cover everything to the level required, so the CISO must be supported by an effective team of security professionals.

These professionals will, of course, have varying skillsets – specialisation increases as the environment becomes more complex – so it is important to understand what you are looking for. A highly technical developer or penetration tester may not be the best person to evangelise a security culture, say, while a risk analyst may not be the best person to configure a complex firewall.

Larger organisations can generally support larger teams with a wider range of expertise. However, even here it may be more appropriate to buy in specific expertise that is expensive to maintain and only occasionally needed, such as forensic analysis and penetration testing.

Similarly, smaller organisations may need consultancy to help define strategy and good process. Whether employing individuals directly or using third parties, it is important to ensure that the recruiter or contractor is supported by someone that understands the skills being offered – and to seek assurance through accreditations, recommendations and references.

So how do you identify a good practitioner? The Institute of Information Security Professionals (IISP) has been providing accreditations for a number of years. The model it uses works on the basis that a security professional has deep and demonstrable knowledge; it therefore expects accredited members to demonstrate that they have invested in themselves through training courses and qualifications, such as a Master’s degree in information security.

They also need to demonstrate that they have effectively applied this knowledge within the working environment and evidence their depth of knowledge. Finally, they need to show that they can work as a professional within an organisation using skills such as team working, leadership and corporate behaviour.

The accreditation is rigorous carried out through peer review by existing member, and includes an in-depth interview for the higher full membership level. Criteria are measured against the IISP skills framework which was developed through public and private sector collaboration by world-renowned academics and security experts. So when employing security professionals you need to ensure that you measure against these criteria and “know what good looks like”.

Noc Network Engineer Responsibilities

A NOC engineer has several duties in order to ensure the smooth running of the network. They deal with things such as DDoS Attacks, power outages, network failures, and routing black-holes. There are of course the basic roles, such as remote hands, support, configuration of hardware (such as firewalls and routers, purchased by a client). NOC engineers also have to ensure the core network is stable. This can be done by configuring hardware in a way that makes the network more secure, but still has optimal performance. NOC engineers are also responsible for monitoring activity, such as network usage, temperatures etc. They would also have to install equipment, such as KVMs, rack installation, IP-PDU setup, running cabling. The majority of NOC engineers are also on call and have a 5-6 day rotation, working different shifts.

NOCs are frequently laid out with several rows of desks, all facing a video wall, which typically shows details of highly significant alarms, ongoing incidents and general network performance; a corner of the wall is sometimes used for showing a news or weather TV channel, as this can keep the NOC technicians aware of current events which may affect the network or systems they are responsible for. The back wall of a NOC is sometimes glazed; there may be a room attached to this wall which is used by members of the team responsible for dealing with serious incidents to meet while still able to watch events unfolding within the NOC. Individual desks are generally assigned to a specific network, technology or area. A technician may have several computer monitors on their desk, with the extra monitors used for monitoring the systems or networks covered from that desk. The location housing a NOC may also contain many or all of the primary servers and other equipment essential to running the network, although it is not uncommon for a single NOC to monitor and control a number of geographically dispersed sites.

Networking Operation

NETWORK OPERATION

This service includes all equipment and systems infrastructure that, together with operational management, guarantees a quality service and that business requirements are met.

Network Operation and Maintenance services include project, planning, management, day-to-day operation of the system, with professionals at the client's facilities.

All services are flexible in terms of configuration and adaptation to customer needs.

Tropic offers to the telecommunications service providers the network operation service, within the patterns established by the regulations of the Switched Fixed Telephony System - STFC.

The service is based on the provision of infrastructure in 3 layers:

• Voice Platform: to provide access to the provider's customers and interconnections with the other providers, control and charging of calls and application of services.
• Operation Support Systems Platform: This is a set of tools and systems that guarantee the vision of the network operation, verifying indicators and anticipating the trends of network events.
• Business Support Systems Platform: This is a set of tools and systems that guarantee the vision of the business, verifying indicators and ensuring that the operation has the expected profitability levels.
• For these 3 layers, Tropic supplies equipment of the Vectura line, of proven quality in our market, as well as partnerships with the best suppliers of equipment and systems.

Network management is offered through:

• Specialized technicians in the 3 layers: providing a service without interruption and meeting the demands based on the contracted service levels. These technicians belong to teams formed by professionals with extensive experience to guarantee the systems a rigorous performance according to the specifications.
• Processes adherent to the client's operation: providing reports and process flow defined with the client for the areas of operation, business and regulated management, according to the periodicity and levels of service contracted.
• Tropic makes the commitment to network performance through the Service Level Agreement - SLA and Key Performance Indicator metrics - KPI. Based on these measures, our customers can focus on the commercial strategy, brand and expansion of the core of the network and subscriber base.

Service Management - Network Operation and Maintenance

The Tropic Services Management provides an end-to-end solution, from the project and implementation of the network, with its operation and maintenance, as well as the metrics and analysis of the measurements and in accordance with the data obtained by taking Preventive actions.

With this model, the Operator can achieve more aggressive CAPEX and OPEX objectives.

Customer Benefits: 

• Focus on business
• Network Quality Assurance
• Operation and Maintenance cost reduction
• Efficient operation of the equipment

Sites Hosted on the Server

A dedicated server hosting plan means that your website is the only site hosted on the server. With shared hosting, the amount of disk space and bandwidth you are allotted is limited because there are others sharing the server. You will be charged if you surpass your allotted amount.

When choosing between shared hosting and dedicated hosting, the decision comes down to understanding what your organization requires. While there are pros and cons to both options, it’s also important to understand the differences between shared hosting and dedicated server hosting to clarify this vital choice in establishing and maintaining your business.

Differences Between Shared Hosting and Dedicated Hosting

•  Sites Hosted on the Server: With a shared hosting package, there are other organizations that host their sites on the server, right alongside your organization. A dedicated hosting plan means that your organization is the only user hosted on the server.

• Bandwidth & Disk Space: With shared hosting, the amount of disk space and bandwidth you are allotted is limited since there are others sharing the server. You will be charged more if you surpass your allotted amount of bandwidth, and penalized if you exceed your amount of disk space – just like a utility. Even if you’ve fairly purchased resources, some hosts will add extra rules to penalize you for having elements like videos or music—regardless of whether you hit your bandwidth cap! With dedicated hosting, bandwidth and disk space are dedicated entirely to your organization and its server. There’s no resource sharing, so limitations on the amount of disk space and bandwidth are up to your organization’s requirements.

• Costs: With shared hosting, the server’s resources are shared among several users – so operating costs are divided up among the users. This makes shared hosting more affordable, and ideal for smaller organizations or businesses just beginning to establish their web presence. Because a dedicated server is dedicated solely to one user, it costs more. However – there’s a benefit! With a dedicated server, you’ve got far more operational flexibility to deal with traffic spikes, customize your server or install specialized software to meet your needs.

• Required Technical Skill: With shared hosting, your organization doesn’t need a staff with specialized technical skills. Maintenance, administration and security are managed by the shared hosting provider. This dramatically simplifies operating the server. The tradeoff is that it limits what your organization can do. With your own dedicated server, your organization should anticipate needing IT & webmaster skills to set up, install, administer and manage the server’s overall health. If that’s too daunting for your organization because of time or money constraints – but you still need the power and space of a dedicated server – fully managed dedicated hosting plans are available at a higher cost. Fully managed dedicated hosting plans are more expensive than colocated dedicated servers. However, it’s important to understand that the cost of managed services is typically still far less than building, staffing and onboarding your own IT department.

• Security: With shared hosting, the hosting company installs firewalls, server security applications and programs. Experts in security are tasked with providing a safe & stable operating environment for the organizations on shared servers. Securing a dedicated server will be your organization’s responsibility. Configuring software to detect and mitigate threats falls to your IT department, while your hosting company is only responsible for keep your server powered and physically secured. On a dedicated server, your IT team will be able to control the security programs you install. However, since your organization is the only user, there are fewer chances to acquire viruses, malware and spyware because of poor neighbors and misconfigured security.While it seems counter intuitive, there is actually a higher risk of attack vectors being exploited through shared hosting. As the adage goes: “Good fences make good neighbors,” and your own dedicated server is the ultimate “fence.”

• Website & IP Blacklisting: Shared servers introduce an interesting risk vector: there’s a chance that Google and other search engines will blacklist your websites because someone else on the server engaged in illegal or discouraged practices like spamming. Bad neighbors on a shared server can get the entire IP address blacklisted, making your websites practically invisible. On your own dedicated server, it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll get blacklisted – unless your organization engages in unethical or illegal internet practices. We really don’t recommend that!

IT Engineer Job Description

 application systems engineer

IT Engineers are high-level IT personnel who design, install, and maintain a company’s computer systems. They are responsible for testing, configuring, and troubleshooting hardware, software, and networking systems to meet the needs of the employer. IT Engineers may also be required to train staff and manage projects.

IT Engineer Job Description 

We are looking to hire an experienced IT Engineer to manage our company’s computer systems. As an IT Engineer, you will be responsible for designing hardware configurations, installing software, managing network systems, and training staff on correct operating procedures.

To ensure success as an IT Engineer, you should have extensive experience maintaining large-scale computer systems, the ability to project manage, and excellent troubleshooting skills. Ultimately, a top-level IT Engineer can design and maintain a dynamic and stable system to perfectly meet the needs of the company.

IT Engineer Responsibilities:

• Meeting with the IT Manager to discuss system needs.
• Designing and installing computer hardware configurations.
• Installing software and networking systems.
• Troubleshooting network and software issues.
• Installing high-level software security systems.
• Training staff on newly installed hardware and software systems.
• Fixing hardware, software, and networking issues.
• Responding to general IT requests.
• Ensuring security software is kept up to date.
• Filing monthly reports for the IT Manager.

IT Engineer Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a similar field.
• Extensive knowledge of computer hardware systems.
• Familiarity with general OS systems, Enterprise, programming languages, and Office software.
• Knowledge of LAN and wireless networks.
• Ability to project manage.
• Good communication skills.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex software and hardware issues.
• Knowledge of database and networking security systems.

Which website is best for freelancing?

  freelancer websites

Where can you get the ideal work or client? If you’re a freelancer, we can help point you in the right direction.

We know that freelance work has its perks, and searching for customers isn’t one of them. Marketing your services is indeed one of the most tedious tasks that you can face. This is where freelance websites come in.

However, websites offering freelance work come at varying degrees of reach, work types, and payment terms. If you’re not careful, you can end up wasting time, effort, and, worse, money on platforms with questionable standing.

That’s why we came up with this 20 best freelance websites for beginners and professionals, so you can weed out undesirables and focus on the most reliable ones. After all, time is money. Below, you’ll find it easy to compare the similarities and, more importantly, differences between each platform. Key features to consider include job types, payment terms, and communication channels.

How to get entry level it security jobs ?

 

 How to Start a Career in Cyber Security

Invest in Your Education

Getting a cyber security degree is often the first step toward starting a career in this lucrative and in-demand field. And if you have a degree and experience in information security, the options are plentiful and diverse.

Most prospective cyber security leaders start with an undergraduate degree in information technology, information systems and/or computer science. After obtaining an undergraduate degree and gaining experience in the field, a master’s degree in cyber security operations and leadership or information technology is the next step.

If you are pursuing the cyber security engineering route, you should start with an undergraduate degree in engineering and then obtain specialized experience in cyber security either through years of direct experience or through a master’s degree program focused solely on cyber security engineering.

Whatever path you choose, education is key. One of the primary reasons for the many unfilled cyber security jobs — in 2014, Cisco estimated that there were 1 million unfilled cyber security jobs worldwide — is that employers can’t find cyber security professionals with the high-level skills and advanced education they need. According to Burning Glass Technologies, 83% of employers require at least a bachelor’s degree while 23% require a master’s.

The number of unfilled cyber security positions is staggering and only projected to grow as cyber criminals become more sophisticated in their attacks and companies struggle to find information security experts with the skills and knowledge required to mitigate such attacks.

In such a desperate landscape, where so many jobs remain unfilled due to the lack of qualified candidates, those with a cyber security degree have a great advantage. Not only are job options vast for information security degree holders, salaries are high due to the lack of supply and the urgent demand. According to Dice.com, a lead software engineer can make as much as $233,333 annually while a chief security officer can earn as much as $225,000.

Get Certified

In order to land a job in cyber security, you will also need to gain certain industry certifications. Some of the most popular and sought-after certifications are:

• CompTIA Security+
• CISSPY — Certified Information Systems Security Professional
• CISM — Certified Information Security Manager
• CISA — Certified Information Systems Auditor
• GIAC — Global Information Assurance Certification
• CEH — Certified Ethical Hacker

In addition, there are many vendor-specific certifications, such as those offered through Cisco, RSA and Symantec that are attractive to employers. Of course, what you will need and what employers will require depends on the role you are applying for.

A NOC engineer has several duties

 A NOC engineer has several duties in order to ensure the smooth running of the network. They deal with things such as DDoS Attacks, power outages, network failures, and routing black-holes. There are of course the basic roles, such as remote hands, support, configuration of hardware (such as firewalls and routers, purchased by a client). NOC engineers also have to ensure the core network is stable. This can be done by configuring hardware in a way that makes the network more secure, but still has optimal performance. NOC engineers are also responsible for monitoring activity, such as network usage, temperatures etc. They would also have to install equipment, such as KVMs, rack installation, IP-PDU setup, running cabling. The majority of NOC engineers are also on call and have a 5-6 day rotation, working different shifts.

NOCs are frequently laid out with several rows of desks, all facing a video wall, which typically shows details of highly significant alarms, ongoing incidents and general network performance; a corner of the wall is sometimes used for showing a news or weather TV channel, as this can keep the NOC technicians aware of current events which may affect the network or systems they are responsible for. The back wall of a NOC is sometimes glazed; there may be a room attached to this wall which is used by members of the team responsible for dealing with serious incidents to meet while still able to watch events unfolding within the NOC. Individual desks are generally assigned to a specific network, technology or area. A technician may have several computer monitors on their desk, with the extra monitors used for monitoring the systems or networks covered from that desk. The location housing a NOC may also contain many or all of the primary servers and other equipment essential to running the network, although it is not uncommon for a single NOC to monitor and control a number of geographically dispersed sites.

Managed Server Definition

A managed server is your own dedicated hosting service that also provides data storage services. In addition, managed servers have their own maintenance and backup systems. ... The one big advantage of managed servers is that they relieve the clients of having to maintain the servers themselves.

What is Managed Hosting?

Those in the digital space are familiar with Managed Hosting in one way or another.

This is a business model where a service provider leases hardware to a single customer. The service provider also provides management of the servers, software, and networks necessary for hosting for the customer.

If an issue arises, a managed hosting provider is there to help pinpoint the problem and rectify it.

What is Fully Managed Dedicated Server Hosting?

Fully Managed Dedicated Server Hosting is an isolated hosting environment where the provider handles the setup, administration, management, and support of the server or platform application. The resources are specific to the user ensuring that your data alone is hosted in your environment without being affected by the issues that arise from sharing resources.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is the most popular example of multi-tenancy. This is where many sites or applications exist on the same server. Quite often, shared hosting divides the server resources among customers. This would include storage and bandwidth and in some cases RAM and CPU cores.

Think of shared hosting as a home with renters all sharing the same living space.

Managed Dedicated Server Hosting

Dedicated hosting would be an example of single-tenancy. With this type of environment, a single customer hosts their site(s) or application(s). With managed dedicated server environments, the server hardware and resources for that hardware belong to that single customer.

To continue with the above analogy, think of dedicated hosting as a home with one occupant. This avoids “noisy neighbors” encroaching on your space, disrupting your space and the space of those visiting your site.

Noc Engineer

The network operations center (NOC) is a room where specialists do their job, using sophisticated equipment that produces visualizations of the networks that IT specialists are responsible for, according to Tech Target. From this center, the specialists in solving network problems, distribute new programs and update data. From this center, the overall performance of the company's network is controlled and the networks are coordinated. NOC workers are often engineers at NOC.

Function

The NOC engineer performs a series of tasks such as the configuration and administration of Cisco routers, changing the firmware - which are small and adapted small programs - on a regular basis, they solve problems with computer networks every time they are reported guaranteeing that multimedia transmission Through the networks it is working properly, according to Cyber Coders Engineering. According to Real Page, the NOC engineer monitors system conditions, documents any changes made to networks, builds a manual of procedures for handling network problems and is responsible for maintaining network security.

Terms

NOC engineers work in a computer lab where a large number of computers are located. These engineers usually work 40 hours a week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many are expected to be available in the event of a system failure. These engineers spend a lot of time in front of a computer, which can make them susceptible to carpal tunnel syndrome and visual fatigue.

Education

Becoming a NOC engineer generally implies a bachelor's degree in computer science or information science. However, workers who have extensive experience in solving computer network problems will often find work. Companies often look for NOC engineers who have previous experience with the hardware and software used by the company, although sometimes they are willing to provide some type of training in the workplace