The following diagram shows a simple database access in Ingres:

The following diagram shows how Ingres Star accesses data:

The Star Server receives requests for data from multiple clients and passes those requests for data to a local DBMS Server. (The Star Server never directly accesses data in a database.) The local DBMS servers can support simultaneous user access to local databases and queries from the Star Server. The local DBMS accesses its database and returns the results. The Star Server returns the results of the distributed query to the application.

Star can also access non-Ingres databases through Enterprise Access products. The following diagram shows how Ingres Star accesses data on two Ingres databases and one non-Ingres database linked by means of an Enterprise Access product: