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What Degree for network engineering?

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    #32
    matthew1998
    Registered Users Posts: 175 ✭✭matthew1998


    The reason I wanted to become a network engineer is because it's a tech job that pays nicely and doesn't involve too much coding.... and now your saying there will be lots of coding in the future?

    I have leaned C# and i'm good at it. But my real passion is for hardware!

    Is there any tech job that does not require (too much) code and pays remotely well?


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    #33
    pug_
    Registered Users Posts: 636 ✭✭✭pug_


    I've been a network engineer for about 15 years and I can tell you that very little of the job entails hardware.

    The main hardware element to the job is understanding what the options are and what the capability of each option is, but once you understand that and the kit is deployed the only time hardware is looked at is when an upgrade is needed or of there is a hardware fault.

    For the most part the job can be split into a few different areas. Designing, testing, deploying new services, and troubleshooting a problem. Depending on the size of the company this will either be the one person (or team) doing everything, or responsibilities will be split between people (or teams). For all of those what's needed more than anything is a deep understanding of networking protocols, and an appreciation of how making changes will impact on the existing network. Believe me the amount of knowledge needed to do the job well is vast, you could spend years studying just networking and still feel like a novice on certain topics.

    As for the future of networking, nothing is certain. There will be companies that will keep doing business the way they do now because it works for them, but industry wise predictions are for a more virtulised less hands on approach becoming more standard over time. I don't have a crystal ball so it may not happen but if networking is where you want to be then there is no harm educating yourself on where the industry sees its self heading in the coming years.


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    #34
    Cuddlesworth
    Registered Users Posts: 13,995 ✭✭✭✭Cuddlesworth


    matthew1998 wrote: »
    The reason I wanted to become a network engineer is because it's a tech job that pays nicely and doesn't involve too much coding.... and now your saying there will be lots of coding in the future?

    I have leaned C# and i'm good at it. But my real passion is for hardware!

    Is there any tech job that does not require (too much) code and pays remotely well?


    Windows Admin, need to learn powershell.

    Linux Admin, thats a python

    Network admin, again python.

    Vmware, that's actually powershell.

    You need to remember, hardware is simple. Round peg, square hole sort of thing. So if you want to earn money, you get to the point where 1 of you can do the work of 5 other "hardware" people. And that means either automation or service enhancement.


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    #35
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 83,235 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Mac OS, that's a paddlin.


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    #36
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 83,235 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Electronic and Computer engineering sounds like a mix of electrical engineering (multi-phase power, inductance, **** I don't even know or understand, signal processing) and computer engineering (also signal processing, programming, logic, eeeeeeetc.)

    My roommates an EE and listening to him cram for his exams - he definitely had to know "what is a packet" and the definition was easy enough to follow, but that was just the start of the test. Baaaasically, he has to know enough to build a network from scratch - like what methods to program a computer to transmit bits of information, accommodate for packet loss, latency, and all sorts of other madness.

    Business information systems sounds more geared toward the software side of things - deploying software to networks, security and firewalls, troubleshooting the mother****ingcowknobbling Xerox machine, etc. but is just as much related to things relevant to Amazon Cloud Services like network storage and synchronization, etc.

    Computer Science (don't mistake with computer engineering) is very much about 0s, 1s, programming, all the nerdy information you would need to know to build your own CPU in minecraft, etc. etc. etc. - Computer Engineering deals more with physical hardware, thermodynamics (cooling and waste-heating of electronic components), eeeeeeeeetc.


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    #37
    joebothers
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 38 ✭joebothers


    Look at CCNA training videos on YouTube and see what you think. Your better off doing a degree rather than just certs at your age.


    Don't jump into something because it sounds cool. I wasted my first year of college doing electronic engineering and hated it from day one. Changed to computer science then and loved it. Have a look at windows server, Linux, Oracle, cloud computing and see which one you like best.


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