Many scripts that will run
under mod_cgi will
run under mod_perl using
Apache::PerlRun in the Config file. This in itself
speeds things up because Perl does not have to reload for each call;
scripts that have been tidied up or written especially will run even
better under Apache::Registry.
You may want to experiment with different Config files and scripts.
If you are running under Apache::Registry, you
will have to restart Apache to reload the script.