How is this more effective... (Score 1)

So maybe I'm just misreading the article, but it sounds like: requests go to the mailbox server, when the "protected" server is ready to handle requests it talks to a random mailbox, and then sends a response. So the way I read that, you request a page/info/whatever and then sit at the mailbox waiting for a response. That seems like a lot of inefficiency/lost time just sitting there... If you've already got all these servers sitting here, how is this complicated clustered mailbox defense system better than just turning these servers into a distributed server farm? If you're already using all these extra servers why not just use them as mirrors for your content in the first place... Can someone enlighten me as to what I'm missing here?