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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.
Related: Computer Network Support Specialists  Computer Systems Engineers/Architects  Information Security Engineers  Network & Computer Systems Administrators  Software Developers 
Industries: Professional, Science, & Technical  Media & Communication  Finance & Insurance 

  • Summary

  • Details

    • Work Activities

    • Develop procedures to track, project, or report network availability, reliability, capacity, or utilization.
    • Develop and write procedures for installation, use, or troubleshooting of communications hardware or software.
    • Develop plans or budgets for network equipment replacement.
    • Design, organize, and deliver product awareness, skills transfer, or product education sessions for staff or suppliers.
    • Develop or recommend network security measures, such as firewalls, network security audits, or automated security probes.
    • Develop and implement solutions for network problems.
    • Coordinate network operations, maintenance, repairs, or upgrades.
    • Develop network-related documentation.
    • Prepare detailed network specifications, including diagrams, charts, equipment configurations, or recommended technologies.
    • 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.
    • Research and test new or modified hardware or software products to determine performance and interoperability.
    • Use network computer-aided design (CAD) software packages to optimize network designs.
    • Communicate with customers, sales staff, or marketing staff to determine customer needs.
    • Research and test new or modified hardware or software products to determine performance and interoperability.
    • Design, build, or operate equipment configuration prototypes, including network hardware, software, servers, or server operation systems.
    • Communicate with system users to ensure accounts are set up properly or to diagnose and solve operational problems.
    • Supervise engineers or other staff in the design or implementation of network solutions.
    • Maintain networks by performing activities such as file addition, deletion, or backup.
    • Communicate with vendors to gather information about products, alert them to future needs, resolve problems, or address system maintenance issues.
    • Estimate time and materials needed to complete projects.
    • Develop or maintain project reporting systems.
    • Communicate with vendors to gather information about products, alert them to future needs, resolve problems, or address system maintenance issues.
    • Determine specific network hardware or software requirements, such as platforms, interfaces, bandwidths, or routine schemas.
    • 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 or monitor project schedules, budgets, or cost control systems.
    • Coordinate network or design activities with designers of associated networks.
    • Develop or maintain project reporting systems.
    • Develop or recommend network security measures, such as firewalls, network security audits, or automated security probes.
    • Participate in network technology upgrade or expansion projects, including installation of hardware and software and integration testing.
    • Evaluate network designs to determine whether customer requirements are met efficiently and effectively.
    • Explain design specifications to integration or test engineers.
    • Visit vendors, attend conferences or training sessions, or study technical journals to keep up with changes in technology.
    • Coordinate installation of new equipment.
    • Design, build, or operate equipment configuration prototypes, including network hardware, software, servers, or server operation systems.
    • Adjust network sizes to meet volume or capacity demands.
    • Develop conceptual, logical, or physical network designs.
    • Develop disaster recovery plans.
    • Develop procedures to track, project, or report network availability, reliability, capacity, or utilization.
    • Prepare or monitor project schedules, budgets, or cost control systems.
    • Maintain or coordinate the maintenance of network peripherals, such as printers.

    Skills

    • Complex Problem Solving
      • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
    • Judgment and Decision Making
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
    • Equipment Selection
      • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
    • Troubleshooting
      • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
    • Management of Financial Resources
      • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
    • Technology Design
      • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
    • Monitoring
      • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
    • Installation
      • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
    • Speaking
      • Talking to others.
    • Coordination
      • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
    • Negotiation
      • Bringing people together to solve differences.
    • Operations Analysis
      • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
    • Equipment Maintenance
      • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
    • Systems Evaluation
      • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
    • Learning Strategies
      • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
    • Management of Material Resources
      • Managing equipment and materials.
    • Reading Comprehension
      • Reading work-related information.
    • Time Management
      • Managing your time and the time of other people.
    • Social Perceptiveness
      • Understanding people's reactions.
    • Critical Thinking
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
    • Mathematics
      • Using math to solve problems.
    • Persuasion
      • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
    • Writing
      • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
    • Active Listening
      • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
    • Programming
      • Writing computer programs.
    • Management of Personnel Resources
      • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
    • Operations Monitoring
      • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
    • Instructing
      • Teaching people how to do something.
    • Service Orientation
      • Looking for ways to help people.
    • Quality Control Analysis
      • Testing how well a product or service works.
    • Operation and Control
      • Using equipment or systems.
    • Systems Analysis
      • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
    • Science
      • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
    • Repairing
      • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
    • Active Learning
      • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    Abilities

    • Depth Perception
      • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
    • Auditory Attention
      • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
    • Mathematical Reasoning
      • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
    • Speed of Closure
      • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
    • Control Precision
      • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
    • Response Orientation
      • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
    • Memorization
      • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
    • Gross Body Coordination
      • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
    • Peripheral Vision
      • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
    • Oral Comprehension
      • Listening and understanding what people say.
    • Information Ordering
      • Ordering or arranging things.
    • Fluency of Ideas
      • Coming up with lots of ideas.
    • Written Comprehension
      • Reading and understanding what is written.
    • Written Expression
      • Communicating by writing.
    • Perceptual Speed
      • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
    • Explosive Strength
      • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
    • Hearing Sensitivity
      • Telling the difference between sounds.
    • Sound Localization
      • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
    • Manual Dexterity
      • Holding or moving items with your hands.
    • Wrist-Finger Speed
      • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
    • Number Facility
      • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
    • Trunk Strength
      • Using your lower back and stomach.
    • Visual Color Discrimination
      • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
    • Speech Recognition
      • Recognizing spoken words.
    • Night Vision
      • Seeing at night or under low light.
    • Speech Clarity
      • Speaking clearly.
    • Glare Sensitivity
      • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
    • Deductive Reasoning
      • Using rules to solve problems.
    • Flexibility of Closure
      • Seeing hidden patterns.
    • Spatial Orientation
      • Knowing where things are around you.
    • Visualization
      • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
      • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
    • Multilimb Coordination
      • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
    • Rate Control
      • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
    • Far Vision
      • Seeing details that are far away.
    • Oral Expression
      • Communicating by speaking.
    • Category Flexibility
      • Grouping things in different ways.
    • Originality
      • Creating new and original ideas.
    • Speed of Limb Movement
      • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
    • Reaction Time
      • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
    • Gross Body Equilibrium
      • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
    • Stamina
      • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
    • Dynamic Flexibility
      • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Extent Flexibility
      • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Near Vision
      • Seeing details up close.
    • Inductive Reasoning
      • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
    • Problem Sensitivity
      • Noticing when problems happen.
    • Selective Attention
      • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
    • Time Sharing
      • Doing two or more things at the same time.
    • Dynamic Strength
      • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
    • Finger Dexterity
      • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
    • Static Strength
      • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    Knowledge

    • Computers and Electronics
      • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
    • Building and Construction
      • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
    • Biology
      • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
    • Psychology
      • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
    • Geography
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
    • Mechanical
      • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
    • Design
      • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
    • Mathematics
      • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
    • Public Safety and Security
      • 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.
    • Education and Training
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
    • Telecommunications
      • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
    • History and Archeology
      • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
    • Foreign Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
    • Transportation
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
    • Communications and Media
      • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
    • Personnel and Human Resources
      • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
    • Economics and Accounting
      • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
    • Engineering and Technology
      • 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.
    • Philosophy and Theology
      • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
    • English Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
    • Customer and Personal Service
      • 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.
    • Medicine and Dentistry
      • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
    • Administrative
      • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
    • Administration and Management
      • 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.
    • Food Production
      • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
    • Sales and Marketing
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
    • Production and Processing
      • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
    • Physics
      • 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.
    • Chemistry
      • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
    • Sociology and Anthropology
      • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
    • Therapy and Counseling
      • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
    • Law and Government
      • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
    • Fine Arts
      • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    Education

    Education
    Bachelor's degree
    Work Experience
    5 years or more work experience
    Training
    No on-the-job training
    Education and Training Opportunities

    Pay

    Washington Annual Salary
    155890/yr
    Washington Hourly Wage
    74.95/hr

    Washington Employment Trends

    Currently Employed
    5,690
    Yearly Projected Openings
    380

    Personality

    Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out. They do well at jobs that need:
    • Attention to Detail
    • Analytical Thinking
    • Dependability
    • Initiative
    • Integrity
    • Persistence

    Tools

    • Access servers
    • Broadband aggregators
    • Computer servers
    • Desktop computers
    • Digital telephones
    • Digital testers
    • Firewall network security equipment
    • Frequency analyzers
    • Hard disk arrays
    • High end computer servers
    • Integrated services digital network ISDN testers
    • Interferometers
    • Mainframe computers
    • Multimeters
    • Network analyzers
    • Network cable management panel assembly
    • Network channel or data service units
    • Network management or monitoring device
    • Network routers
    • Network service concentrators or hubs
    • Network switches
    • Network traffic controller
    • Notebook computers
    • Personal computers
    • Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
    • Power meters
    • Protocol analyzers
    • Radio frequency data communication equipment
    • Reflectometers
    • Server load balancer
    • Storage area network SAN switch
    • Tablet computers
    • Videoconferencing systems
    • Voice data video cable tester
    • WLAN wireless access network equipment and components

    Technology

    • Access software
    • Administration software
    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Application server software
    • Authentication server software
    • Backup or archival software
    • Bridge software
    • Business intelligence and data analysis software
    • Cloud-based management software
    • Cloud-based protection or security software
    • Clustering software
    • Communications server software
    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Computer based training software
    • Configuration management software
    • Content workflow software
    • Data base management system software
    • Data base reporting software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Desktop communications software
    • Development environment software
    • Document management software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise application integration software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Enterprise system management software
    • Expert system software
    • File versioning software
    • Financial analysis software
    • Geographic information system
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Helpdesk or call center software
    • Human resources software
    • Industrial control software
    • Instant messaging software
    • Internet browser software
    • Internet directory services software
    • Internet protocol IP multimedia subsystem software
    • LAN software
    • Metadata management software
    • Network monitoring software
    • Network operating system enhancement software
    • Network security and virtual private network VPN equipment software
    • Network security or virtual private network VPN management software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Object oriented data base management software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Optical network management software
    • Pattern design software
    • Portal server software
    • Presentation software
    • Process mapping and design software
    • Program testing software
    • Project management software
    • Requirements analysis and system architecture software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Storage networking software
    • Switch or router software
    • Time accounting software
    • Transaction security and virus protection software
    • Transaction server software
    • Video conferencing software
    • Video creation and editing software
    • WAN switching software and firmware
    • Web platform development software
    • Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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