sub check_database_health {
    my $db_host = shift;
    my %health;

    debug(4, "Checking connect time for $db_host");

    my $dbh;
    my $connect_time;
    my $seconds = 2;

    my $mask    = POSIX::SigSet->new( SIGALRM ); # signals to mask in the handler
    my $action  = POSIX::SigAction->new(
                    sub { die "connect timeout" },        # the handler code ref
                    $mask,
                );
    my $oldaction = POSIX::SigAction->new();
    sigaction( &POSIX::SIGALRM, $action, $oldaction );

    eval {
        alarm($seconds);
        my $start_time  = time;
        $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:database=test;host=$db_host", 'check_health', '******',
                            { RaiseError => 1, PrintError => 0 });
            or die "Could not connect to $db_host: " . $DBI::errstr;
        my $end_time    = time;

        $connect_time   = $end_time - $start_time;
        alarm 0;  # cancel alarm (if code ran fast)
    };
    sigaction( &POSIX::SIGALRM, $oldaction );  # restore original signal handler

    if ( $@ ) {
        debug(4, "Problem!: $@");
        return undef;
    }
    else {
        $health{connect_time}   = $connect_time;
        debug(4, "OK - $connect_time seconds");
    }
}