How to become a Data Centre Technician, Systems
Systems
The data hall’s systems technician: diagnoses servers, updates firmware, rebuilds operating systems and patches hypervisor hosts on site.
There’s a page for this role in , with its licences and local details.
What the role does
The white-space ladder’s systems strand: diagnoses servers, updates firmware, rebuilds operating systems and patches hypervisor hosts on site; platform administration stays with administrators. Open to direct entry with a year of Linux.
What a shift looks like
Shifts on a roster. Hardware faults to diagnose and parts to replace, firmware and operating system work, and handing systems back to their administrators.
What employers call it
- DCO Tech, Compute Services (hyperscale)
- DC Ops Technician III (cloud and AI compute)
- Hardware Operator (cloud and AI compute)
- Operations Engineer, Fleet Reliability (cloud and AI compute)
- Data Center Operations System Engineer (cloud and AI compute)
- Data Center Operations Engineer (cloud and AI compute)
- Linux Data Center Operations Technician (hyperscale)
Skills
The level the role needs in each, on FacilityVR’s five levels from Aware to Authority.
Site safety
- Select and use protective equipment Independent
White space and IT hardware
- Decommission equipment and handle media Independent
- Rack and stack equipment Independent
- Take electrostatic discharge precautions Independent
Systems and virtualisation
- Administer an operating system Independent
- Diagnose a fault to a field-replaceable unit in a rack-scale system Independent
- Diagnose server hardware Independent
- Install and patch a hypervisor host Independent
- Install or rebuild an operating system Independent
- Run burn-in and acceptance tests on new hardware Independent
- Run fleet runbooks and return hosts to service Independent
- Take a node out of service and return it Independent
- Update firmware and management controllers Independent
- Use the Linux and Windows command line Independent
- How rack-scale accelerator systems fail Independent, desirable
Procedures and documents
- Work within change management Independent
Emergency response
- Recognise and report a suspected cyber incident Assisted
Licences and credentials
Licences depend on the country you work in, and sometimes the state. The role’s page for Australia lists them there.
Ways in and ways on
From outside the industry
From another data centre role
- From Data Centre Technician, typically 2 years
- From Senior Data Centre Technician
Where it leads
- Lead Data Centre Technician, typically 2 years
- Virtualisation Administrator (a sideways move)
- Cluster Commissioning Engineer, typically 2 years
Jobs open now
None right now. See every open job.
Questions about data centre careers? Ask about data centre careers
Sources and licences
- Critical Facilities reference framework © Facility Labs. (CC BY 4.0)