#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my @hosts = ('first.host.com', 'second.host.com', 'third.host.com');

# Get the host we were called with
my $host = shift;
if (defined $host) {
    # Get the data from the specified host
    sshx (gather data);
}
else {
    # Called with a blank command line, so fire off a call for each 
    # host in our list
    for $host (@hosts) {
        # Fire off the same program, but give it a host and tell it to
        # run in the background
        system("data_gather.pl $host &");
    }
}