Ask HN: Home based cloud setups

No doubt precipitated by the recent NSA coverage, there has already been posts about setting up ownCloud servers at home, etc. However, on their website, ownCloud mentioned that the term 'cloud' is somewhat of a misnomer, since there is non of the usual underlying cloud components (separate storage, VM provisioning, failover, etc) (admittedly they are working on this).

Running a full stack at home is also not completely viable, given probable capital expenditure, electricity costs and typical DSL uplink speeds (assuming you're using it just for your own items, so bandwidth cap is not too much of a hassle).

Is there a sweet spot somewhere in this, where: 1] One can have your data on storage within your control 2] Have some level of redundancy (especially if you need reliable access to your data) 3] Have some level of certainty about your setup's security 4] Not have it cost you a bundle to run 5] It not be a pita to maintain on an ongoing basis (assuming some know-how for an initial setup)

I'm thinking maybe a shared cost or shared hardware setup with trusted friends or family, or maybe using something like AWS for the frontend, but still storing your data on a low-powered server (Pi) at home, mirrored somewhere?

Has an HNers done something like this? Are they concerned enough to want to try?