A web application to serve static files
How about this:

Use nginx to serve static files
Keep the files in some kind of predefined directory structure, build a django app as the dashbord with the filesystem as the backend. That is, moving, adding or deleting files from the dashboard changed them the filesystem and nginx doesn't have to be aware of this dashboard.
Do not use dynamic routing. Just layout and maintain the proper directory structure using the databoard.

Optionally, keep the directory structure and file metadata in some database server for faster searches and manipulation.
This should result in a very low overhead static file server.
I am thinking to design my own web app to serve static files. I just don't want to use Amazon services..
So, can anyone tell me how to start the project? I am thinking to develop in Python - Django on Openshift (Redhat's). 
This is how ideas are going through in my mind:

A dashboard helps me to add/ delete/ manage static files
To setup API kind of thing (end point: JSON objects) so that I can use this project to serve my web apps!
As openshift uses Apache!, I am thinking to dynamically edit htaccess and serve the files.. but not sure whether it would be possible or not

Or, I can use django's urls.py to serve the files but I don't think djano is actually made for.
Any ideas and suggestion?