Connect data

Fresco BI reads your data from a data source. It only reads: it lists schemas, tables and columns, then loads the tables you pick into Data Tables.

To add one: Data sources › New connection, pick the connector, fill in the form, Test connection, then Save. The form shows the setup guide of the connector beside it. The same guides are below.

Cloud or On-premises

Each data source has a connection type.

Connection type	Use it when	What you open
Cloud	The source is reachable from the internet: a cloud warehouse, a managed database, a server with a public address.	Allow Fresco BI’s outbound IP addresses on the database or its firewall. An SSH tunnel through a bastion host is also possible for many databases.
On-premises (via Gateway)	The database is in a private network, for example `10.0.0.10:5432`.	Nothing inbound. A small Gateway Agent runs on one of your machines and only calls out on port 443.

Cloud works on every plan. On-premises needs the Pro or Enterprise plan.

Import or Realtime

When you load tables you pick a mode for each Data Table.

Mode	How it works	Good for
Import	Fresco BI keeps a copy of the data. Reports are fast. The copy is updated by the refresh schedule of the data model, or when you click Refresh.	Most reports.
Realtime (DirectQuery)	Every visual query reads the source directly. The data is always live; queries are slower and the number of rows is limited.	Data that must be up to the minute.

A Data Table uses one mode: Import or Realtime, never both.
A Realtime Data Table has no refresh schedule.
Not every connector supports Realtime; the guide of each connector says so.
Realtime needs the Enterprise plan. Free and Pro use Import.

Keep imported data fresh

Scheduled refresh is set on the data model: Free once a day, Pro up to 24 times a day, Enterprise up to 48 times a day.
Manual refresh (Refresh on the data model) has no plan limit. See Plans for the anti-spam limits.

Data sources

Your database is not in the list? See Other sources.