It's not particularly challenging to set up a cache layer over a webserver. No new protocols or innovative techniques from smart people are required. Nor is it

It's not particularly challenging to set up a cache layer over a webserver. No new protocols or innovative techniques from smart people are required. Nor is it technologically difficult to accept that sometimes HTTP requests won't work. I think the point being made here is less about new things and more that you should refine your requirements. The computer in your pocket can do anything a stationary computer can do - it's Turing-complete, so this should be obvious - subject to the limits imposed by the hardware. What limits are you, personally, willing to accept for your home-server-pocket-computer?