When creating a table in Amazon DynamoDB, what must you specify in addition to the table name?

When creating a table in Amazon DynamoDB, specifying the primary key is essential because it uniquely identifies each item within the table. The primary key can be composed of a single partition key or a combination of partition key and sort key. This distinction is crucial for DynamoDB's underlying architecture, as it determines how data is stored, accessed, and retrieved.

Defining the primary key ensures that the data distributed across the partitions can be managed efficiently, allowing for quick lookups and efficient query processing. Without a primary key, the system would lack the necessary structure to differentiate between items, leading to an inability to reliably store and retrieve data.

While considerations like table size, region, and backup settings are important for managing the table post-creation, they are not mandatory during the initial creation process. The primary key directly impacts how the data is organized and accessed, making it a critical component of the table configuration.