Patent ID: 8601000

Claim:
A system, comprising: a plurality of computing nodes, each comprising at least one processor and memory, wherein the plurality of computing nodes is configured to implement a data storage service; wherein the data storage service stores items on behalf of storage service clients, wherein the items are stored in tables in a non-relational data store, wherein each item comprises one or more attributes, and wherein each attribute comprises a name and a value; wherein the data storage service provides a web services interface through which service requests are received; wherein in response to receiving a service request to update a particular item that is stored in a given table, the data storage service is configured to modify the values of one or more attributes of the particular item in a manner specified in the service request without modifying the values of any attributes of the particular item that are not specified as targets of the update in the service request; wherein the service request comprises the name of the given table and a primary key usable to uniquely identify the particular item within the given table; wherein the service request further comprises the name of each of the one or more attributes, and wherein the primary key is not dependent on the values of the one or more attributes.