How can I defer processing during apache / mod_perl page rendering?
There are two types of solutions: First you can do what Randal Schwartz suggested here. Second you could use a Message Queue like Beanstalk or Gearman. Beanstalk has a Perl Client and is now persistent and is ideal for lightweight stuff. Gearman on the other hand has more features, more worked on. There is also TheSchwartz - use it if you can do without too much documentation. cron is ideal for systematically repeating tasks. For the kind of application you have, it appears that Schedule::At might be more appropriate if you prefer a more generic "message-queue"
Also see an old StackOverflow Thread here