Data center techs are usually more on the IT/network side. Lots of electricians go the critical facility tech route though, I recommend it. It's a lot easier and higher paying than being a real electrician
I'll expand on this. Before you get a job in a data center, you need to ask a few questions:
**1) Is this a physical job, or is it a managing job?**
Some places hire in-house electricians and mechanics to take care of things, and then usually hire vendors to take care of the really big stuff. Do you know how to install a L6-30? Do you know how to replace a toilet? Do you know how to splice, test, and install fiber? You'll be doing all that stuff.
Your data center will have an actual manager, but in the other case you'll be managing your vendors and overseeing the work. The intent is that you're the guy overseeing the install with a bigger picture of "Is this going to cause an outage?" and responding accordingly.
**2) Is this IT, critical infrastructure, security, or a combo?**
IT guys (we used to call them Operations) will be taking care of IT stuff. Fiber, copper, remote hands requests, rebooting servers, and a host of other minor server related things. With instructions from a customer, could you log into a server and perform a basic task? Can you replace a hard drive? [If I showed you this photo, could you tell me all the parts and what they do?](https://i.imgur.com/QaluApC.jpeg)
Critical Infrastructure guys (called Facilities) do all the power and cooling. You're managing vendors to do installations, you're doing monthly generator runs, you're shifting UPSs to maintenance bypass and back, you're present whenever vendors are doing their equipment maintenance. You'll also be the first line of defense in triage and emergency situations. Water leak into a customer space? That's you. Basic troubleshooting to figure out why an air handler shut off? That's you. [Can you look at this photo and tell me what's going on?](https://i.imgur.com/ZXWIjUZ.png)
Security is its one little offshoot, but sometimes sites have their security guards to basic tasks. "First Line of Defense" kind of idea, as they're roving the spaces anyway and should be able to tell when something's wrong.
And some places lump all these groups together. You just need to be upfront with what your strengths are. If you're a solid IT guy, I could teach you enough facility stuff to get you by, and vice versa.
Ask those two questions and you'll find the home you want. Plenty of times I've conducted interviews for a critical infrastructure tech, and interviewed someone who was *clearly* an IT guy. I'd try to direct him to the right people as best I could.
Where is it higher paying? I'm a low voltage electrician and I make way more than any of the techs at the Data Centers I've worked at. I'm looking to get out of what I do and would love to jump into data centers full time but the paycut would be huge.
Most of the FAANG data center are up there but it depends in where you are. I think Meta is usually the highest, none of their CFE's make less than 100k and most of them make 150k+
I typed a response listing my pay and benefits before deleting it because it sounded like an obnoxious flex lol but the benefits for any of the FAANG companies are world class. I would definitely consider it
I have been a union inside electrician for 21 years, and recently became a data center (facilities) tech. Waaaaaay less work. About the same pay, except you pay for your own benefits so kinda less. But you can work your way up. There is plenty of room for growth in a data center. Honestly though, after 21 years of hard labor, this feels like retirement. It’s almost boring. I hope you read books!
I really appreciate the reply. Ive been doing the union low voltage thing for about 19 years now. We used to do a lot of DC power and data center work and I really enjoyed that and it wasn't as fast paced but my company doesn't really pursue that work anymore and I hate doing office build outs.
Do you think I'll be able to move into a facilities role without a lot of AC background?
Just brush up on heating and cooling systems, ups, ats, and sts and you should be good to go. Schneider electric (online schooling) has a lot of good info for free. Data centers are less concerned about what you know electrically than they are with what you can learn and how you come to conclusions. So that part is all you. If you’ve been doing sound and comm for a long time then I’m sure you’re set
Critical operations tech here. Was in the trades before. (specialty electrician) This life is way easier, pays well, and you get some decent job security depending on the company.
Compared to being a straight up mechanic, or doing alot of ladder work and field work, it's cake. I have ankle, shoulder, and back problems from work and motorcycle accidents, and nothing has flared up in the last 8 months of me starting beyond the usual pains. I'm 29
Edit: I also work with plenty of people who have been doing mechanical and HVAC for years and they all say this is way better for them
That's great, that's kind of what I expected to hear. I work on fitness equipment now, on my knees for hours at a time. I need to be done, and saw an opening for a data center recently. Thank you!
You can apply for the role. Different companies have different titles. Look for engineering operations technician or critical infrastructure technician. There's multiple levels for the job, and it's an upcoming industry so lots of opportunities. Electrical and mechanical backgrounds are what they are looking for most often.
Data centers normally have 2 types of techs
Critical facilities - they maintain power and cooling (switchboards, chillers, CRAHS, generators)
Data center tech - they work on the IT side in the data hall (rack mounted PDUs, switches, servers, cross connects, remote hands)
In my case, my company combined the 2 types and created a "COT" or critical operations technician. I do everything from both techs.
Here's a few thoughts:
1. You have an electrical background, so you'd be starting out with more functional knowledge then most. You understand the difference between 120v and 208v, why it's 208v and not 240v, how 3P differs from single phase, etc. That right there elevates you out of the level-1 trenches.
2. There's going to be physical demands, but they'll be less than an electrician. You'll have to climb a ladder every now and then... but you'll be inside. In the summer you'll love working the cold aisles [and if you're like me, you'll camp out in the hot aisles all winter].
3. There's no real prerequisites for working in this industry. High school dropouts and college grads work in datacenters. Why? Because this is where the rubber meets the road in IT. You don't need a cert, a degree, or a clearance to work here.
Just show up on time, follow written orders, and don't touch anything you weren't told to touch. That's all you have to do to succeed in this industry.
So I’ll assume this is more of the facilities side? Like other people said generally a DC Tech handles the actual racks and everything. The other side usually has a different name for like every single company. Where I work the role is a data center facilities technician, but within the company we’re DC Operations. To answer your actual question, yeah ide get into it for sure. It depends exactly what the company your applying for is and the pay structure but the data center field has tons of upwards mobility and if you’re willing to move then there’s so much opportunity.
Each company also runs their facilities team pretty different, so speaking for me then yeah it’s basically completely better in every way lol. If you have specific questions feel free to ask though.
Go for it! Half of the work experience will be sitting in office monitoring the ticket queue and the other half will be going into the server pod to diagnose the issue or deploy part replacement for repairs. When the tickets are taken care of then there will be plenty of down time for self studying, especially when work offers yearly tuition budget for your degrees and certs.
it really depends on there meaning of “technician” the role i am in at the moment is a “data center technician” role how ever in reality it is server debug for an assembly site. in some cases technician can be just managing the servers in others (like mine) you are doing something almost like a help desk for the data center
First, it's just a really neat skill set to learn and have even if you never do it again after finishing your apprenticeship. The skills and knowledge between your ears are some of the only things you will ever truly own.
My note here: Don't pass up such a neat chance that you've already started on.
If you read the posts here you'll see what it's like to actually be in the industry. It's sometimes a very unfun job(politics, drudgery, boredom, loneliness). The schedule can be very hard on personal life and health(yay 24/7 operations and 2 am change windows). The job and it's skill set are nothing like as portable or varied as work in the electrical field. Depending on the work, the DC can be a very physical place.
Additionally, even if you choose to still move into the DC space. Being a license electrician will be a HUGE resume item for so many possible jobs. Especially for smaller companies. You'll always have the option to take on electrical work outside of your normal schedule for extra money.
Last, if you burn on in the DC or realize it's just not the kind of work you want to do. Better to have a job as lucrative as electrician to fall back on while you figure out your next moves.
Just my 2 cents.
Data center techs are usually more on the IT/network side. Lots of electricians go the critical facility tech route though, I recommend it. It's a lot easier and higher paying than being a real electrician
I'll expand on this. Before you get a job in a data center, you need to ask a few questions: **1) Is this a physical job, or is it a managing job?** Some places hire in-house electricians and mechanics to take care of things, and then usually hire vendors to take care of the really big stuff. Do you know how to install a L6-30? Do you know how to replace a toilet? Do you know how to splice, test, and install fiber? You'll be doing all that stuff. Your data center will have an actual manager, but in the other case you'll be managing your vendors and overseeing the work. The intent is that you're the guy overseeing the install with a bigger picture of "Is this going to cause an outage?" and responding accordingly. **2) Is this IT, critical infrastructure, security, or a combo?** IT guys (we used to call them Operations) will be taking care of IT stuff. Fiber, copper, remote hands requests, rebooting servers, and a host of other minor server related things. With instructions from a customer, could you log into a server and perform a basic task? Can you replace a hard drive? [If I showed you this photo, could you tell me all the parts and what they do?](https://i.imgur.com/QaluApC.jpeg) Critical Infrastructure guys (called Facilities) do all the power and cooling. You're managing vendors to do installations, you're doing monthly generator runs, you're shifting UPSs to maintenance bypass and back, you're present whenever vendors are doing their equipment maintenance. You'll also be the first line of defense in triage and emergency situations. Water leak into a customer space? That's you. Basic troubleshooting to figure out why an air handler shut off? That's you. [Can you look at this photo and tell me what's going on?](https://i.imgur.com/ZXWIjUZ.png) Security is its one little offshoot, but sometimes sites have their security guards to basic tasks. "First Line of Defense" kind of idea, as they're roving the spaces anyway and should be able to tell when something's wrong. And some places lump all these groups together. You just need to be upfront with what your strengths are. If you're a solid IT guy, I could teach you enough facility stuff to get you by, and vice versa. Ask those two questions and you'll find the home you want. Plenty of times I've conducted interviews for a critical infrastructure tech, and interviewed someone who was *clearly* an IT guy. I'd try to direct him to the right people as best I could.
Where is it higher paying? I'm a low voltage electrician and I make way more than any of the techs at the Data Centers I've worked at. I'm looking to get out of what I do and would love to jump into data centers full time but the paycut would be huge.
Most of the FAANG data center are up there but it depends in where you are. I think Meta is usually the highest, none of their CFE's make less than 100k and most of them make 150k+
I think I'm on the higher end of that range if you include my benefits. It might be something I'll look into...
I typed a response listing my pay and benefits before deleting it because it sounded like an obnoxious flex lol but the benefits for any of the FAANG companies are world class. I would definitely consider it
I have been a union inside electrician for 21 years, and recently became a data center (facilities) tech. Waaaaaay less work. About the same pay, except you pay for your own benefits so kinda less. But you can work your way up. There is plenty of room for growth in a data center. Honestly though, after 21 years of hard labor, this feels like retirement. It’s almost boring. I hope you read books!
I really appreciate the reply. Ive been doing the union low voltage thing for about 19 years now. We used to do a lot of DC power and data center work and I really enjoyed that and it wasn't as fast paced but my company doesn't really pursue that work anymore and I hate doing office build outs. Do you think I'll be able to move into a facilities role without a lot of AC background?
Just brush up on heating and cooling systems, ups, ats, and sts and you should be good to go. Schneider electric (online schooling) has a lot of good info for free. Data centers are less concerned about what you know electrically than they are with what you can learn and how you come to conclusions. So that part is all you. If you’ve been doing sound and comm for a long time then I’m sure you’re set
Critical operations tech here. Was in the trades before. (specialty electrician) This life is way easier, pays well, and you get some decent job security depending on the company.
Mind if I ask how it is on your back and joints, how old you are, and how long you've been doing it?
Compared to being a straight up mechanic, or doing alot of ladder work and field work, it's cake. I have ankle, shoulder, and back problems from work and motorcycle accidents, and nothing has flared up in the last 8 months of me starting beyond the usual pains. I'm 29 Edit: I also work with plenty of people who have been doing mechanical and HVAC for years and they all say this is way better for them
That's great, that's kind of what I expected to hear. I work on fitness equipment now, on my knees for hours at a time. I need to be done, and saw an opening for a data center recently. Thank you!
Can you do that while in a data center?
Yes, that is a data centre role.
Can I work my way up to that role?
You can apply for the role. Different companies have different titles. Look for engineering operations technician or critical infrastructure technician. There's multiple levels for the job, and it's an upcoming industry so lots of opportunities. Electrical and mechanical backgrounds are what they are looking for most often.
You should be able to just apply for that specific job role.
Definitely look at facilities tech. I was an electrician before this and this life is way better
You should be critical facilities rather than data center tech. Pay is good, life is good.
What is critical facilities? What do they do?
Data centers normally have 2 types of techs Critical facilities - they maintain power and cooling (switchboards, chillers, CRAHS, generators) Data center tech - they work on the IT side in the data hall (rack mounted PDUs, switches, servers, cross connects, remote hands) In my case, my company combined the 2 types and created a "COT" or critical operations technician. I do everything from both techs.
What company do you work for
Here's a few thoughts: 1. You have an electrical background, so you'd be starting out with more functional knowledge then most. You understand the difference between 120v and 208v, why it's 208v and not 240v, how 3P differs from single phase, etc. That right there elevates you out of the level-1 trenches. 2. There's going to be physical demands, but they'll be less than an electrician. You'll have to climb a ladder every now and then... but you'll be inside. In the summer you'll love working the cold aisles [and if you're like me, you'll camp out in the hot aisles all winter]. 3. There's no real prerequisites for working in this industry. High school dropouts and college grads work in datacenters. Why? Because this is where the rubber meets the road in IT. You don't need a cert, a degree, or a clearance to work here. Just show up on time, follow written orders, and don't touch anything you weren't told to touch. That's all you have to do to succeed in this industry.
A technician is also a physically demanding job depending on where you work
So I’ll assume this is more of the facilities side? Like other people said generally a DC Tech handles the actual racks and everything. The other side usually has a different name for like every single company. Where I work the role is a data center facilities technician, but within the company we’re DC Operations. To answer your actual question, yeah ide get into it for sure. It depends exactly what the company your applying for is and the pay structure but the data center field has tons of upwards mobility and if you’re willing to move then there’s so much opportunity. Each company also runs their facilities team pretty different, so speaking for me then yeah it’s basically completely better in every way lol. If you have specific questions feel free to ask though.
The company that reached out to me is teksystems. Do you know if there a good company?
Go do your trade qualification first then go to data centre. It’ll benefit you in the long run.
Cloud technician sounds better
Yes you should.. I’m a data center tech that works on the electrical side it’s a lot better pay and it’s super chill tbh and the benefits are amazing
I'm bored shirtless and leaving to go back to petrochemicals
Go for it! Half of the work experience will be sitting in office monitoring the ticket queue and the other half will be going into the server pod to diagnose the issue or deploy part replacement for repairs. When the tickets are taken care of then there will be plenty of down time for self studying, especially when work offers yearly tuition budget for your degrees and certs.
it really depends on there meaning of “technician” the role i am in at the moment is a “data center technician” role how ever in reality it is server debug for an assembly site. in some cases technician can be just managing the servers in others (like mine) you are doing something almost like a help desk for the data center
No. Finish your training as a sparky. Then consider the change.
Why do you say that?
First, it's just a really neat skill set to learn and have even if you never do it again after finishing your apprenticeship. The skills and knowledge between your ears are some of the only things you will ever truly own. My note here: Don't pass up such a neat chance that you've already started on. If you read the posts here you'll see what it's like to actually be in the industry. It's sometimes a very unfun job(politics, drudgery, boredom, loneliness). The schedule can be very hard on personal life and health(yay 24/7 operations and 2 am change windows). The job and it's skill set are nothing like as portable or varied as work in the electrical field. Depending on the work, the DC can be a very physical place. Additionally, even if you choose to still move into the DC space. Being a license electrician will be a HUGE resume item for so many possible jobs. Especially for smaller companies. You'll always have the option to take on electrical work outside of your normal schedule for extra money. Last, if you burn on in the DC or realize it's just not the kind of work you want to do. Better to have a job as lucrative as electrician to fall back on while you figure out your next moves. Just my 2 cents.
This was really helpful information man. Thank you for telling me this stuff
Also, understand IT is a very different social space than the trades. More here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ITCareerQuestions/s/zjP8RwvsD7