Just as a local DBMS Server accesses a local database, a Star Server (part of the Ingres Star product) accesses a distributed database. When one or more of the databases that make up the distributed database reside on separate instances, Ingres Star uses Ingres Net. To use Ingres Star across Ingres Net, vnodes (with their corresponding connection data entries and remote user authorizations) must be defined on the Star server instance for each of the remote instances containing the databases that make up the distributed database.

If the connection data entries and the remote user authorizations are defined as private, connection data entries and remote user authorizations must also be defined for the installation owner (or the system administrator). These definitions are used if a distributed transaction fails. The Star Server attempts to recover the transaction as the owner of the Ingres Star instance.