Server status

[Amailer]

Hello,
Im trying to check several server status (to see if their online or offline) at the same time. How do I make it so that the script doesn't have to always check the sites status, because it makes the page load really slow..
Im using this function

code:

function check_status($servers, $port) {         $fp = @fsockopen($servers, $port, &$errno, &$errstr, 1);                 if(!$fp) {                 return false;         } else {                 fclose($fp);                 return true;         } }

I just check if the port is accessible or not, if it isn't then display 'Offline' as the status else display 'Online'. This is done for about 5 or more servers at a time..

Also, would this function cause the script to possiablly create problems for php somehow?

Thanks.