diff --git a/polaris/dataset/_base.py b/polaris/dataset/_base.py
index 1cc2ea1f..875de6f4 100644
--- a/polaris/dataset/_base.py
+++ b/polaris/dataset/_base.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import json
 from os import PathLike
 from pathlib import Path, PurePath
-from typing import Any, MutableMapping
+from typing import Any, Iterable, MutableMapping
 from uuid import uuid4
 
 import fsspec
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ def n_columns(self) -> int:
 
     @property
     @abc.abstractmethod
-    def rows(self) -> list[str | int]:
+    def rows(self) -> Iterable[str | int]:
         """Return all row indices for the dataset"""
         raise NotImplementedError
 
diff --git a/polaris/dataset/_dataset_v2.py b/polaris/dataset/_dataset_v2.py
index 5144f1f7..4e35f062 100644
--- a/polaris/dataset/_dataset_v2.py
+++ b/polaris/dataset/_dataset_v2.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import re
 from os import PathLike
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Any, ClassVar, Literal
+from typing import Any, ClassVar, Iterable, Literal
 
 import fsspec
 import numpy as np
@@ -82,19 +82,19 @@ def _validate_v2_dataset_model(self) -> Self:
     def n_rows(self) -> int:
         """Return all row indices for the dataset"""
         example = self.zarr_root[self.columns[0]]
-        if isinstance(example, zarr.Group):
-            return len(example[_INDEX_ARRAY_KEY])
-        return len(example)
+        match example:
+            case zarr.Group():
+                return len(example[_INDEX_ARRAY_KEY])
+            case _:
+                return len(example)
 
     @property
-    def rows(self) -> np.ndarray[int]:
-        """Return all row indices for the dataset
-
-        Warning: Memory consumption
-            This feature is added for completeness' sake, but it should be noted that large datasets could consume a lot of memory.
-            E.g. storing a billion indices with np.in64 would consume 8GB of memory. Use with caution.
+    def rows(self) -> Iterable[int]:
+        """
+        Return all row indices for the dataset
+        This feature is added for completeness' sake, but does not provide any performance benefits.
         """
-        return np.arange(len(self), dtype=int)
+        return range(self.n_rows)
 
     @property
     def columns(self) -> list[str]:
diff --git a/polaris/hub/storage.py b/polaris/hub/storage.py
index 325c9534..4ef41558 100644
--- a/polaris/hub/storage.py
+++ b/polaris/hub/storage.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 from base64 import b64encode
 from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
 from contextlib import contextmanager
+from functools import lru_cache
 from hashlib import md5
 from itertools import islice
 from pathlib import PurePath
@@ -129,6 +130,14 @@ def _multipart_upload(self, key: str, value: bytes) -> None:
                 Bucket=self.bucket_name, Key=full_key, UploadId=upload_id, MultipartUpload={"Parts": parts}
             )
 
+    @lru_cache()
+    def _get_object_body(self, full_key: str) -> bytes:
+        """
+        Basic caching for the object body, to avoid multiple reads on remote bucket.
+        """
+        response = self.s3_client.get_object(Bucket=self.bucket_name, Key=full_key)
+        return response["Body"].read()
+
     ## Custom methods
 
     def copy_to_destination(
@@ -351,8 +360,7 @@ def __getitem__(self, key: str) -> bytes:
         with handle_s3_errors():
             try:
                 full_key = self._full_key(key)
-                response = self.s3_client.get_object(Bucket=self.bucket_name, Key=full_key)
-                return response["Body"].read()
+                return self._get_object_body(full_key=full_key)
             except self.s3_client.exceptions.NoSuchKey:
                 raise KeyError(key)
 
@@ -430,6 +438,12 @@ def __len__(self) -> int:
 
             return sum((page["KeyCount"] for page in page_iterator))
 
+    def __hash__(self):
+        """
+        Custom hash function, to enable lru_cache decorator on methods
+        """
+        return hash((self.bucket_name, self.prefix, self.s3_client))
+
 
 class StorageTokenAuth:
     token: HubStorageOAuth2Token | None