if you're just looking for server load, you can use the output from the last command. the first line that it outputs displays uptime and server load. granted it is for the entire server. if you're only worried about web stuff, this might not be so good. but if you're worried about ftp and telnet this gives a value based on ALL of your system resources, not just your web stuff.

system "last -n 10 > file";
open(filename, "/file");
$serverinfo = <filename>;
chomp($serverinfo);
close(filename);
[download]

this will give you a line (without the newline character) which will provide server up time as well as current load, etc. -drujax