External storage (iSCSI) or local drives

MySQL & MariaDB Other MySQL® Questions
1

Hi,
Does anybody have experience (good or bad) with running multiple MySQL databases with central storage?
We have several large databases (dataset size from 80 to 110G) and want to upgrade our hardware.
I see two options:

  1. Expensive central storage (NetApp/EMC) that will serve all databases.
  2. Each database machine will have it’s own local storage (6-8 SAS drives).

1st option has many advantages (easy backups, easy upgrades), but it just doesn’t sound right that all databases (including replicas) will be hosted on the same storage.

Can somebody share their experience with similar setups? Will the option #1 work at all?

2

My experience: it’s expensive and slower, and adds a single point of failure. But if you want the convenience of centralized storage management and you don’t mind the drawbacks, maybe it’s worth it for you.