1. A method of splitting a first slice of a representation in a distributed database into a plurality of new slices, the method comprising: creating a plurality of write queues, each write queue corresponding to a different one of the new slices; copying units of data in the first slice to the new slices according to a distribution function that determines, for each unit of data in the first slice, one of the new slices into which to copy the unit of data; asynchronously writing one or more actions of a set of one or more asynchronous database transactions to the first slice, wherein each transaction of the set of asynchronous database transactions is initiated after beginning said copying; and asynchronously enqueuing the one or more actions of the set of asynchronous database transactions in the write queues according to the distribution function, wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.