# Designer

FastStats Designer is the administration tool for building FastStats systems. System administrators use it to connect to data sources, define the data model, and load data into a FastStats database.

The FastStats Server uses the FastStats database to deliver fast analysis, such as selection counts, cross-tabulations, Venn diagrams, profiles, and models. Apteco applications, including Orbit, FastStats, FastStats Excelsior, PeopleStage, and the FastStats API, typically access this analysis through the FastStats web service.

With Designer, you can:

- Connect to [data sources](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/data-source/index.md>): a [database](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/data-source/database-data-source/index.md>), a [delimited file](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/data-source/delimited-file-source/index.md>), or a [fixed file](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/data-source/fixed-file-data-source/index.md>)
- Define the [tables](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/table-relationships/defining-tables/index.md>), [relationships](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/table-relationships/defining-relationships/index.md>), and [variables](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/define-variables/index.md>) that make up your FastStats database
- Organise variables in a [folder structure](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/folder-structure/index.md>)
- Configure your [FastStats system properties](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/system-configuration/index.md>)
- Practise with a [training dataset](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/data-source/training-data/index.md>)
- [Load or refresh](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/build-faststats-system/index.md>) data in a FastStats database
- [Rebuild virtual variables](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/post-load-actions/virtual-variable-refresh-package/index.md>) offline
- Build systems on a schedule from the [command line](<https://help.apteco.com/en/designer/other/command-line/index.md>)

## See also

For the latest changes to FastStats Designer, see the [release notes](<https://help.apteco.com/en/release-notes/index.md>).