function check_tcp_active($host, $port) {
    $socket = socket_create(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, SOL_TCP);
    socket_set_option($socket,
      SOL_SOCKET,
      SO_RCVTIMEO,
       array(
       "sec"=>0,
       "usec"=>500
       )
    );
    $result = @socket_connect($socket, $host, $port);
    if ( $result ) {
      socket_close($socket);
      return(TRUE);
    } else {
      return(FALSE);
    }
  }

  function find_active_server($array) {
    // Format: $array['127.0.0.1']=3306
    if ( is_array($array) ) {
      foreach ( $array as $host => $port ) {
        if ( $this->check_tcp_active($host, $port) ) {
          $rval['host']=$host;
          $rval['port']=$port;
          return($rval);
        }
      }
    }
    return(FALSE);
  }

  $mysqlServers=array(
    '127.0.0.1'    => 3306,
    '192.168.0.10' => 3306,
    '192.168.0.11' => 3306,
    '192.168.0.12' => 3306,
    '192.168.0.13' => 3306,
    '192.168.0.14' => 3306,
  );

  $goodMysqlHost=find_active_server($mysqlServers);

with only a very small amount of work a pseudo random load distribution would be possible. Hope this helps someone 🙂