Thanks for all the replies. They have been most helpful. It seems as though SCSI is definitely the way to go for this large database server. Essentially it will be the server for a database with the 486 / slow pentiums retrieving and writing small amounts of data continuously. So definitely sold on the SCSI option.
However, still not sure on the dual PIII deal but if we do go with this it seems the ASUS mainboard is better than the Intel Tuepelo thing. It is much cheaper and uses standard RAM. It also has the option of onboard SCSI card. I think the new Athlon motherboard is something I will wait and see about - perhaps for a future upgrade. Thanks again all. Mark.