Before the development of image hosting services, the display and exchange of images on the early public Internet of the 1980s–1990s was a laborious and complex process. Expertise was needed to set up a private file server, to connect it to the Internet, and paying for the potentially expensive dedicated Internet connection. Some experts would provide access to a Unix shell and some file storage, via paid access, free public access, or just made available to a select group of private friends. Uploading of images was accomplished with command-line tools like FTP, or uploading images using slow 14.4 to 33.6 kilobit dialup modem connections and terminal protocols like XMODEM to the server storage.