How does federated search handle indexing and data retrieval from multiple sources?

Federated search efficiently handles indexing and data retrieval from diverse sources through a decentralized approach. Instead of creating a unified index, federated forwards queries to relevant sources to multiple databases. Each database processes the query independently and returns results. Federated search then consolidates and presents the combined results to the user for seamless access to diverse information. This allows real-time access to dispersed information while maintaining source independence.