Has anyone tried mod_backhand?

[Leslie Mikesell]

Has anyone tried mod_backhand (in the apache module registry) in
a front end apache proxying to multiple mod_perl'd back end
servers?   It claims to load balance, keeping track of the
status and load of the back end servers, which also appear
to need the module included.   Is there a better free alternative
that will detect dead backend servers and avoid them?  (I'm
actually having more trouble with java servlets right now, but
the idea is the same with mod_perl...).

  Les Mikesell
   [EMAIL PROTECTED]