Career Details
Career Details
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Career Details

15-1241.00 - Computer Network Architects


Design and implement computer and information networks, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), intranets, extranets, and other data communications networks. Perform network modeling, analysis, and planning, including analysis of capacity needs for network infrastructures. May also design network and computer security measures. May research and recommend network and data communications hardware and software.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
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Forecasted Employment
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Change in Employment
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Change in Employment %
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Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Adjust network sizes to meet volume or capacity demands.
  • Communicate with customers, sales staff, or marketing staff to determine customer needs.
  • Communicate with system users to ensure accounts are set up properly or to diagnose and solve operational problems.
  • Coordinate installation of new equipment.
  • Coordinate network operations, maintenance, repairs, or upgrades.
  • Coordinate network or design activities with designers of associated networks.
  • Design, build, or operate equipment configuration prototypes, including network hardware, software, servers, or server operation systems.
  • Determine specific network hardware or software requirements, such as platforms, interfaces, bandwidths, or routine schemas.
  • Develop and implement solutions for network problems.
  • Develop and write procedures for installation, use, or troubleshooting of communications hardware or software.
  • Develop conceptual, logical, or physical network designs.
  • Develop disaster recovery plans.
  • Develop network-related documentation.
  • Develop or maintain project reporting systems.
  • Develop or recommend network security measures, such as firewalls, network security audits, or automated security probes.
  • Develop plans or budgets for network equipment replacement.
  • Develop procedures to track, project, or report network availability, reliability, capacity, or utilization.
  • Estimate time and materials needed to complete projects.
  • Evaluate network designs to determine whether customer requirements are met efficiently and effectively.
  • Explain design specifications to integration or test engineers.
  • Maintain or coordinate the maintenance of network peripherals, such as printers.
  • Monitor and analyze network performance and reports on data input or output to detect problems, identify inefficient use of computer resources, or perform capacity planning.
  • Participate in network technology upgrade or expansion projects, including installation of hardware and software and integration testing.
  • Prepare design presentations and proposals for staff or customers.
  • Prepare detailed network specifications, including diagrams, charts, equipment configurations, or recommended technologies.
  • Prepare or monitor project schedules, budgets, or cost control systems.
  • Research and test new or modified hardware or software products to determine performance and interoperability.
  • Supervise engineers or other staff in the design or implementation of network solutions.
  • Use network computer-aided design (CAD) software packages to optimize network designs.
  • Visit vendors, attend conferences or training sessions, or study technical journals to keep up with changes in technology.
  • Communicate with vendors to gather information about products, alert them to future needs, resolve problems, or address system maintenance issues.
Supplemental
  • Design, organize, and deliver product awareness, skills transfer, or product education sessions for staff or suppliers.
  • Maintain networks by performing activities such as file addition, deletion, or backup.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 93%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Telecommunications
  • 88%
    Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
 Engineering and Technology
  • 83%
    Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
 English Language
  • 80%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Design
  • 73%
    Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
 Mathematics
  • 71%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 Public Safety and Security
  • 59%
    Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
 Administration and Management
  • 59%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
 Education and Training
  • 56%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 55%
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Physics
  • 53%
    Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
 Law and Government
  • 52%
    Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Indicating and recording instruments
  • Bit error rate testers BERT
 Electronic and communication measuring and testing instruments
  • Fiber optic power meters
  • Power meters
  • Asynchronous transfer mode ATM analyzers
  • Cable analyzers
  • Cable qualification testers
  • Link analyzers
  • Local area network LAN analyzers
  • Network analyzers
  • Network connectivity testers
  • Synchronous optical network SONET analyzers
  • T-Birds
  • Wide area network WAN analyzers
  • Integrated services digital network ISDN analyzers
  • Protocol analyzers
  • Communication cable testers
 Light and wave generating and measuring equipment
  • Spectrum analyzers
  • Optical spectrum analyzers
  • Time domain reflectometers
 Personal communication devices
  • Voice over internet protocol VoIP systems
 Media storage devices
  • Redundant array of independent disks RAID systems
 Computers
  • Backup servers
  • Domain name servers DNS
  • File servers
  • High-end database servers
  • Mail transport servers
  • Network-attached storage NAS equipment
  • Workstations
  • Laptop computers
  • Notebook computers
  • Personal digital assistants PDA
  • Desktop computers
  • Personal computers
  • Tablet computers
  • Mainframe computers
 Fixed network equipment and components
  • Radio frequency RF antennas
 Network service equipment
  • Computer network routers
  • Network routers
  • Intelligent hubs
  • Channel banks
  • Network channel service units CSU or data service units DSU
  • Computer network switches
  • Local area network LAN switches
  • Voice switches
  • Wide area network WAN switches
  • Storage area network SAN switches
  • Load balancers
  • Network server load balancers
  • Lightweight directory access protocol LDAP servers
  • Remote access servers
  • Broadband aggregation equipment
  • Packet analysis equipment
  • Wireless network controllers
 Digital mobile network infrastructure equipment and components
  • Wireless access points WAP
  • Wireless local area network WLAN controllers
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Business function specific software
  • Help desk software
  • Ticket information tracking software
  • Human resource management software HRMS
  • ConfluenceHOT
  • Microsoft ProjectHOT
  • Microsoft SharePointHOT
  • Ansible softwareHOT
  • Microsoft OfficeHOT
 Finance accounting and enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • Microsoft DynamicsHOT
  • Oracle Fusion ApplicationsHOT
  • SAPHOT
  • Oracle E-Business Suite Financials
  • Time reporting software
 Content authoring and editing software
  • Diagramming software
  • Adobe Systems Adobe Fireworks
  • Microsoft VisioHOT
  • Trimble SketchUp ProHOT
  • Adobe Systems Adobe AfterEffectsHOT
  • Microsoft WordHOT
  • Microsoft PowerPointHOT
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
 Content management software
  • Atlassian JIRAHOT
  • Apache Subversion SVNHOT
  • GitHOT
 Data management and query software
  • Amazon DynamoDBHOT
  • Apache CassandraHOT
  • Apache HadoopHOT
  • Apache HiveHOT
  • Apache PigHOT
  • Apache SolrHOT
  • ElasticsearchHOT
  • MongoDBHOT
  • MySQLHOT
  • NoSQLHOT
  • Oracle PL/SQLHOT
  • Relational database management softwareHOT
  • Teradata DatabaseHOT
  • Microsoft SQL Server Reporting ServicesHOT
  • Network reporting software
  • Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2HOT
  • Amazon RedshiftHOT
  • Amazon Web Services AWS softwareHOT
  • Data entry softwareHOT
  • Microsoft AccessHOT
  • Microsoft SQL ServerHOT
  • Oracle JDBCHOT
  • Oracle softwareHOT
  • Structured query language SQLHOT
  • Transact-SQLHOT
  • CA Erwin Data Modeler
  • Hibernate ORM
  • PostgreSQLHOT
  • Apache HTTP ServerHOT
  • Customer information control system CICS
  • Apache SparkHOT
  • IBM Cognos ImpromptuHOT
  • MicroStrategyHOT
  • Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise EditionHOT
  • Qlik Tech QlikViewHOT
  • TableauHOT
 Development software
  • Application management software
  • Automated installation software
  • Chef
  • Configuration management software
  • Logical partition LPAR software
  • Patch and update management software
  • Perforce Helix software
  • PuppetHOT
  • Software distribution software
  • VMWareHOT
  • Adobe Systems Adobe ActionScript
  • Apache AntHOT
  • Apache KafkaHOT
  • Apache Maven
  • C
  • Common business oriented language COBOLHOT
  • Eclipse IDEHOT
  • GoHOT
  • Integrated development environment IDE softwareHOT
  • Microsoft .NET FrameworkHOT
  • Microsoft AzureHOT
  • Microsoft PowerShellHOT
  • Microsoft Visual BasicHOT
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition VBScriptHOT
  • Microsoft Visual StudioHOT
  • National Instruments LabVIEWHOT
  • Oracle Java EE
  • RubyHOT
  • Systems and applications migration software
  • Verilog
  • Atlassian BambooHOT
  • Extensible markup language XMLHOT
  • IBM InfoSphere DataStage
  • IBM WebSphereHOT
  • IBM WebSphere MQ
  • Oracle Fusion MiddlewareHOT
  • Advanced business application programming ABAPHOT
  • Apache GroovyHOT
  • C#HOT
  • C++HOT
  • Microsoft ActiveX
  • Oracle JavaHOT
  • Practical extraction and reporting language PerlHOT
  • PythonHOT
  • ScalaHOT
  • SwiftHOT
  • jQueryHOT
  • Hewlett Packard LoadRunner
  • JUnitHOT
  • Segue SilkPerformer
  • SeleniumHOT
  • System testing software
  • Capacity planning software
  • Network architecture design software
  • Requirements management software
  • Unified modeling language UMLHOT
  • AJAXHOT
  • Apache StrutsHOT
  • Apache TomcatHOT
  • Cascading Style Sheets CSSHOT
  • DjangoHOT
  • DrupalHOT
  • Dynamic hypertext markup language DHTML
  • Enterprise JavaBeans
  • Ext JS
  • Extensible HyperText Markup Language XHTML
  • Google AngularJSHOT
  • Hypertext markup language HTMLHOT
  • JavaScriptHOT
  • JavaScript Object Notation JSONHOT
  • LAMP Stack
  • Microsoft ASP.NETHOT
  • Microsoft ASP.NET Core MVCHOT
  • Microsoft Active Server Pages ASPHOT
  • Node.jsHOT
  • Oracle JavaServer Pages JSPHOT
  • PHP: Hypertext PreprocessorHOT
  • Ruby on RailsHOT
  • Spring FrameworkHOT
 Educational or reference software
  • Computer based training software
 Industry specific software
  • Autodesk AutoCADHOT
  • Autodesk RevitHOT
  • Dassault Systemes CATIAHOT
  • Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKSHOT
  • Discrete event simulation software
  • MinitabHOT
  • Root cause analysis software
  • The MathWorks MATLABHOT
  • Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA softwareHOT
 Network applications software
  • Application server software
  • Citrix XenApp
  • DockerHOT
  • GitHubHOT
  • Microsoft Windows ServerHOT
  • Oracle Solaris Zones
  • Oracle WebLogic ServerHOT
  • Red Hat OpenShiftHOT
  • Red Hat WildFlyHOT
  • Spring BootHOT
  • BroadSoft BroadWorks
  • Domain name system DNS
  • Microsoft Active Directory
  • Web browser software
 Network management software
  • AirMagnet Enterprise
  • Compaq Insight Manager
  • Ethereal
  • Ipswitch WhatsUp Gold
  • Micro Focus OpenView
  • Multi-router traffic grapher MRTG software
  • NagiosHOT
  • NetScout InfinitiStream Console
  • Network and application load and performance testing software
  • Network and component performance analysis software
  • Network availability monitoring software
  • Network intrusion prevention systems NIPS
  • Network modeling, mapping, and analysis software
  • Network traffic flow monitoring and analysis software
  • Network traffic probe software
  • Online traffic calculator software
  • Packet analysis software
  • Packet tracing software
  • Snort
  • Symantec Intruder Alert
  • Tcpdump
  • WiresharkHOT
  • Compuware dynaTrace
  • EMC Smarts Network Protocol Manager
  • Infoblox NetMRI
  • Network, server and operating system optimization software
  • OPNET APMXpert
  • Silver Peak
  • Wide area network WAN optimization software
  • Optical network management software
  • Aruba Networks AirWave
  • Asset management administration software
  • Cisco Systems CiscoWorks
  • Cisco Systems CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution
  • Cisco Systems Wireless Control System WCS
  • Element management software
  • Infoblox
  • Lucent VitalSuite
  • NetIQ
  • Netreo OmniCenter
  • Network documentation software
  • Riverbed Technology
  • Simple network management protocol SNMP software
  • SolarWinds
  • Multiprotocol Label Switching MPLS
  • Open Shortest Path First OSPF
  • Session Initiation Protocol SIP
  • Voice over internet protocol VoiP system softwareHOT
 Networking software
  • Access management software
  • CitrixHOT
  • Remote access software
  • Email management software
  • IBM Domino
  • Local area network LAN software
  • Amazon Simple Storage Service S3HOT
  • Network storage software
  • Storage area network SAN software
  • Storage management software
  • Border Gateway Protocol BGP
  • Cisco Systems Cisco Web Cache Communication Protocol WCCP
  • Cisco Systems Gateway Load Balancing Protocol GLBP
  • Cisco Systems Hot Standby Router Protocol HSRP
  • Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol EIGRP
  • Intermediate System to Intermediate System IS-IS
  • Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links TRILL
  • Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol VRRP
  • Wide area network WAN software
  • Network bridge software
  • Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormationHOT
 Operating environment software
  • Android
  • Apple macOSHOT
  • BashHOT
  • Cisco IOS
  • Hewlett Packard HP-UX
  • IBM AIX
  • Job control language JCL
  • KornShell
  • LinuxHOT
  • Microsoft WindowsHOT
  • Microsoft operating system
  • Oracle SolarisHOT
  • Red Hat Enterprise LinuxHOT
  • Shell scriptHOT
  • Simple mail transfer protocol SMTP
  • UNIXHOT
  • UNIX ShellHOT
  • Ubuntu
 Security and protection software
  • Microsoft Forefront Identify Manager
  • Computer intrusion detection systems
  • Internet Protocol Security IPSEC
  • Intrusion prevention system IPS
  • LogRhythm
  • Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway
  • Network and system vulnerability assessment software
  • Risk assessment software
  • Security incident management software
  • Virtual local area network management software
  • Virtual private networking VPN softwareHOT
  • Websense Data Loss Prevention
  • Content filter software
  • Firewall software
  • Network intrusion detection software
  • CA eTrust
  • Encryption software
  • McAfee
  • McAfee VirusScan
  • Packet filter software
  • Penetration testing software
  • Ping Identity
  • SymantecHOT
  • Virus scanning software
 Utility and device driver software
  • Computer Associates ArcServ Backup
  • System and data disaster recovery software
  • Veritas NetBackup
 Information exchange software
  • IBM NotesHOT
  • Microsoft ExchangeHOT
  • Cisco Systems Webex
  • Videoconferencing software
  • Blink
  • ESRI ArcGIS softwareHOT
 System management software
  • IBM Power Systems software
  • Splunk EnterpriseHOT
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific certifications are listed for this career
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

Clicking on the Degree programs in the list below will take you away from the Careers page.
INSTITUTION
PROGRAMS
Peirce College
Jobs
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Jobs related to this career may be found on Indeed.com or on the Google Job Search page.