People of Pure: Meet Andrew Pruski and Anthony Nocentino, Microsoft MVPs and Customer Champions

You don’t often find two people who’ve written the book—literally and figuratively—on deploying Microsoft SQL Server on Linux, containers, and Kubernetes. But when you do, they might sound a lot like Andrew Pruski and Anthony Nocentino.

Now Principal Field Solutions Architects at Pure Storage (Andrew is a Principal, Anthony a Senior Principal), the duo met the way modern technologists often do—online.

“He slid into my DMs,” Anthony joked.

Andrew and Anthony met in 2014 but their friendship really started in 2017 when they began to bond around pushing the boundaries of what was possible with SQL Server on Linux and in containers. Their shared passion quickly evolved into mutual respect—and eventually, a fast friendship.

“I honestly think he’s the best person on the planet at what he does,” said Anthony. “When I joined Pure in 2021, one of my goals was to get him to come work here. We need people like Andrew.”

Andrew, who at the time was a database administrator at an e-commerce platform provider that was also a Pure Storage customer, needed little convincing. “I’d used Pure products on the other side of the fence. So now when I talk to customers, I can honestly say I’ve been there. I’ve used this stuff on the other side of the fence.”

From MVPs to Pure Partners

Both Andrew and Anthony are now Microsoft MVPs, recognized for their deep contributions to the data platform community. But neither set out to win the award.

“You don’t try to get the award,” said Anthony. “You do the things you love—blogging, public speaking, helping people—and sometimes the award comes.”

Andrew agreed: “I wasn’t writing ‘top 10 performance tips’—that had been done. I was writing about weird, esoteric stuff that I found interesting. SQL Server on Linux, Kubernetes, Pacemaker clusters. And then people started reading it.”

Both were eventually nominated and accepted into Microsoft’s MVP program—a recognition that has allowed them to use their direct ties to Microsoft’s product management team to benefit Pure customers with things like early access programs for SQL Server. 

“For us, the MVP work and the Pure work go hand in hand,” said Anthony. “We’re not just testing Microsoft features in isolation—we’re figuring out how to pair them with Pure’s capabilities in ways no one’s tried before. That’s where real innovation happens for customers.”

Innovation that Andrew and Anthony now write about publicly in their blogs (Andrew’s can be found here and Anthony’s here).   

Complementary Strengths, Common Goals

So how do their skills complement each other?

“Most of our customer engagements start with me firing off daft questions at Anthony,” Andrew joked.

But in reality, their collaboration is tightly aligned and focused on outcomes. “We’re very fortunate that our products do what we say they do,” said Anthony. “So we skip the fluff and go straight to the core question: where does it hurt, what’s the business outcome we’re trying to achieve, and how can we map that back to the capabilities of the Pure Storage Platform?”

Their shared approach is to translate customer pain points—performance issues, high availability challenges, disaster recovery gaps—into real-world, often creative technical solutions. Andrew’s favorite engagements? “The weird and wonderful stuff,” he said. “Like building out distributed availability groups in ActiveDR.”

Thanks to Pure’s simplicity, they can prototype ideas in the lab and bring them straight to the customer. “We don’t just click through slides,” Andrew said. “We build it, demo it, and show the rough edges too. That honesty builds trust.”

Staying Ahead of the Curve

With a long history in the SQL Server space, Pure’s reputation among Microsoft ecosystem customers is already strong—especially for simplicity, performance, and non-disruptive operations.

Anthony tells it best: “I remember a customer doing a controller upgrade on their array. Their SQL Server stayed online the whole time. They didn’t even notice.”

That kind of seamless experience is part of what keeps Pure ahead—and Andrew and Anthony’s tight integration with Microsoft helps keep it that way. Whether it’s testing new vector data types in SQL Server 2025 (with 3:1 data reduction in internal testing), or evaluating post-Broadcom replatforming with modern virtualization strategies on Portworx, they’re focused on the future.

As Anthony put it, “Our biggest opportunity isn’t just in database technologies. It’s in supporting tier-zero mission-critical applications—and making those easier to run, more resilient, and always available.”

Advice for Database Teams—and MVP Hopefuls

For organizations looking to optimize their Microsoft SQL Server environments, both architects offer the same advice: “Just try it.”

“Once you see what Pure can do—whether it’s crash-consistent snapshots, ActiveDR, or just how easy it is to deploy and operate—you’ll see the value,” said Andrew. “There are no gotchas.”

As for aspiring Microsoft MVPs? “Don’t chase the award,” Anthony said. “Just do what you love, share what you learn, and it might follow.”

Andrew added, “Every job I’ve had for the past decade, they already knew me from the speaking circuit. It’s made a big difference.”

Outside the Data Center

When they’re not solving enterprise-scale database puzzles, Andrew and Anthony are still hanging out—often at global sporting events. Earlier this year, they traveled to Rome together with their wives and extended families to watch Italy vs. Wales in the Six Nations Rugby Championship.

Anthony lives in Oxford, Mississippi, where he went to grad school and now lives with his wife and two daughters. He loves to cook—“I grew up in a restaurant”—and spends summers traveling, often in Italy.

Andrew lives in Dublin, Ireland, and spends his time traveling to new sporting events and speaking at SQL Server conferences across Europe. “Even when Pure isn’t sponsoring, I’ll still go—with my Pure polo, of course.”

Their advice, to customers and colleagues alike, reflects the same mindset that got them here: stay curious, think differently, and keep building.