Explain what distributed databases allow.

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

Distributed databases allow the physical data to reside at separate and independent locations that are electronically networked together. The user at site A makes a database query that needs access to data physically stored at site B. The database management system and the underlying network make the necessary links and connections to get the data from where it is currently stored to the node where it is needed. To the user, it looks like a single database on his or her own machine, except perhaps for increased access time when data have to travel across a network.