Can we create and use valiables in different build steps?

Hi folks,

I'm new to this forum and new to TeamCity as well.

Can we create and use valiables in different build steps?
I need to know the way to transfer parameters like build, build dir path etc from one build step to other build step. like...

Build step#1 on agent#1
set build dir/number, build dir path etc and do the build
Build step#2 on agent#2
use the build dir/number and build dir path set in Build step#1 and pass these to new step/script

Also is there any way to execute different build steps on different hosts? How is that done?

Basically, my Build step#1 will executed on my build host and when the build complets, if successful my Build step#2 will be executed on test suite hosts. Can this be done with TeamCity? I worked with ElectricCommander and it has properties concept which is very useful in porting values/parameters/env variables to different steps/hosts and I was wondering if TeamCity has something similar.

Thanks,
Chris