<?
header('Content-Type: text/plain');
preg_match('/'.preg_quote('o]: REQ_PROCESSING: ').'([0-9]{1,3})/',file_get_contents('/tmp/lshttpd/.rtreport'),$matches);
header('Content-Length: '.strlen($matches[1]));
echo $matches[1];
^ rtreport.php on video.1-5.site.com
then site.com checks each starting at 1 with a timeout of 100 ms (will test going even lower--all servers are located on the same network) -- if it times out or if the number returned equals 90% or more it tries the next
isn't the nicest looking solution but it works and that is all that matters