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

Upgrading SQL Server Containers on the Laptop

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I don’t have SQL Server installed on my laptop. In an effort to keep...

How to Find Expensive Queries in Amazon Redshift

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Slow-running queries can degrade your Redshift cluster’s performance and lead to increased costs. Identifying...

The Notification Trap: How Input Fatigue Is Killing Deep Work in Tech

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If you’ve been here before, you know this blog is usually about SQL Server,...

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Forums

SQL 2019 instance with AG, across 2 Windows 2016 OS servers - OSin-place upgrade

By millardus

Hi all Can I get some perspective from the community please on performing in-place...

How Long is a Long I/O?

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item How Long is a Long...

T-SQL Trigonometric Functions in SQL Server

By Imran2629

Comments posted to this topic are about the item T-SQL Trigonometric Functions in SQL...

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Question of the Day

How Long is a Long I/O?

In SQL Server 2025, a long I/O is recorded in the error log with message 833. How long much an I/O request be outstanding before this message is written to the log?

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