New Minecraft Server Advice

First off, thank you all for your responses to my Minecraft server poll!

Due to the positive responses, I'm looking into what I need to do to run a Minecraft server.  I really want to provide a place for people to play with the Ultimate Unicorn Mod's multiplayer features, such as jousting, air battles,  and some new things I'm working on.

I'm looking into a lot of different options, including server hosts, different server types (such as prison servers, etc), and Forge mods to include alongside the Ultimate Unicorn Mod.

I've found a few interesting things, but I thought I'd start a conversation with the community to get an idea what you guys want.

So, what's your advice?  What kind of server do you want?  In your experience, which Forge Mods are particularly good or useful, especially on a multiplayer server?

If you've run a server, what server host do you like best?

I'll be in the comments, so please let me know what you think!