Hello,
I’m currently using the onboard SSD on my MacBook Pro for Channels as a temporary storage solution. That said, I’d like to soon move to an external hard drive and am considering a WD 5TB My Passport Ultra Portable External HDD. I’m thinking this should be plenty fast to support Channels (All of my content is streamed via TVE). An SSD seems like overkill especially when compared to a conventional HDD from a price point. Is my thinking correct or am I missing something?
I record to an SSD and move to external Storage when DVR is idle. SSD better for remote streaming and recording and playing multiple streams while recording.
All of my recordings are on spinning HDDs, some 5400, some 7200. I have never had a problem with them, even when recording 6 programs while watching 2 (1 remotely).
Of course, your experiences may differ.
Thanks for sharing… 
For me I have not had much of an issue between SSD and HDD, with one caveat (not specific to Channels). When dealing with external USB HDD I now use devices that have their own power as opposed to being power through the USB. I have had underwhelming performance issues with externals that are only powered through their USB data connection. Maybe I just had a couple of rare exception cases.
This should not be limited to Channels; anyone choosing to use an external drive—especially one with spinning platters—should only use those that have their own power supplies.
The only drives that should be solely used and powered through the USB bus are thumb/jump drives. Full and proper hard drives—SSD and HDD both—should have their own power supplies separate from the bus.
Mostly true... Unless you have a usbc port with the lightening bolt on it. I have an external Ssd plugged directly into my nuc with no external power. I also have another 10TB drive plugged into a USB 3.0 port but that one has external power
Well, that's a completely different beast. That is a Thunderbolt port, not a USB port. Thunderbolt (versions 2 and above) use USB-C as the connector, but they are still Thunderbolt. While it is mostly compatible with USB, that is not always the case.
(Case in point: I have an external USB3 DVD writer that I can use with my M1 Mac Mini. However, in order to use it without an external power supply, I have to plug it in to the USB-A port on the Mini; using the drive's USB-C plug in the Mac's Thunderbolt port will not power the drive.)
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