Phil Grayson

I’m Phil Grayson, founder of Aireforge, where we build tools to make database management more efficient, secure, and performance-driven. I’ve been working in the SQL Server space for over 25 years, with a focus on performance tuning, security, and observability. Currently, I’m gearing up to launch dbOptics, a platform designed to simplify database observability and performance tuning across complex estates, as well as Guard, a database firewall set to release next year.

I’m passionate about helping data professionals and organizations get the most out of their database environments. Aireforge has been active in the SQL community since 2016, sponsoring events like Data Relay and SQLBits, and we continue to contribute through knowledge sharing and community-driven events.
  • Interests: SQL Server performance tuning, index management, database security, automation of database tasks, observability and monitoring, knowledge sharing, cloud services, Azure infrastructure, motorcycle touring.

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Blogs

Don’t Miss Out – SQL Server Query Tuning Fundamentals Starts Next Monday!

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Next Monday, February 9, 2026, my one-day live online training SQL Server Query Tuning...

Monday Monitor Tips: SQL Auditing Preview

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One of the features we advocates have been advocating for is a better way...

SQL Server 2025 CU1 Fixes the Docker Desktop AVX Issue on macOS

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Microsoft fixed the AVX instruction issue in SQL Server 2025 CU1. The container now...

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Forums

25 Years of SQL Server Central

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item 25 Years of SQL Server...

The Decoded Value

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Decoded Value

Deploying SQL Server Developer Edition in Kubernetes: A Cost-Effective Alternative to RDS

By Sujai Krishna

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Deploying SQL Server Developer Edition...

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Question of the Day

The Decoded Value

In SQL Server 2025, what is returned from this code: 

DECLARE @message VARCHAR(50) = 'Hello SQL Server 2025!';
DECLARE @encoded VARCHAR(MAX);

SET @encoded = BASE64_ENCODE(CAST(@message AS VARBINARY(1000)));
SELECT BASE64_DECODE(@encoded)

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