Please Share Tips/Resources for running, maintaining, and fostering a healthy community

I want to run a server for the first time ever or anywhere. I know it will be expensive, about 150-200 per quarter for good hardware, but I’m not planning to run a server for a profit. I want my players to have a good time.

I am brand spanking new to this but I am serious about it.

I want this server to have a very small number of mods like AoC, Pippi, Pickup+ and maybe 1 to 2 others but that’s it. I want to keep the mod # down in order to help avoid server crashes and such.

For all of you who have run a server before, either a Conan server or elsewhere, can you tell me what I should prepare for regarding server maintenance? Like keeping the mods up to date, responding to issues that come up that prevent people from playing?

Can someone also tell me about running the server and creating an environment where players will want to play and stay on the server for months at a time?

Lastly, I heard I will need to do things like marketing/advertisement to continuously attract new players. What will I need to do here?

While I am asking for myself I suppose I am also asking for anyone who may be curious about taking this big commitment of time and energy to run a server filled with players.

NOTES:
My server will be a PVP server with the Age of Calamitous mod, pippi, pickup+, DyeMoreBetterer, & Less Building Placement Restrictions (on the fence about this one) mods. That should be all.

It will be a mid rate server. Perhaps 5x Harvest, and 5x Exp. The rules will be no more than a single page and geared towards common sense and simplicity.