send header and close connection, but still run additional code

Hello, I am working on a redirect script that sends the client a "Location" header via the header() function. This script needs to stay alive and do additional work after the header is sent (database work, log crunching, etc). Basically, the code looks like: <?php header("Location: http://remote.site/url"); ## Do my intensive work here... ... ... ?> The problem with this is that PHP doesn't actually send the modified header until the entire script is finished. If I add a sleep(20) command after the header, it takes 20 seconds longer for my browser to see the redirect! I've tried a couple different things with no success: - added a call to ob_end_flush(); after the header() call - added "Connection: close" to the header In PERL, I would turn off output buffering by setting the special variable $| to a non-zero value. I would then be able to send a raw header request to the client, and then have the script finish the work in the background. Is this possible with PHP? Thanks, Tony