diff --git a/dmlcloud/util/data.py b/dmlcloud/util/data.py
index 8cf07be..06f2bd3 100644
--- a/dmlcloud/util/data.py
+++ b/dmlcloud/util/data.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 import torch.distributed as dist
 import xarray as xr
+from torch.utils.data import IterableDataset
 
 
 def shard_indices(
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ def shard_indices(
     return indices[rank::world_size].tolist()  # this also converts np.int64 to python's int
 
 
-def chunked_xr_dataset(
+def sharded_xr_dataset(
     ds: xr.Dataset | xr.DataArray,
     chunk_size: int,
     dim: str,
@@ -50,3 +51,49 @@ def chunked_xr_dataset(
         if load:
             chunk.load()
         yield chunk
+
+
+class ShardedXrDataset(IterableDataset):
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        ds: xr.Dataset | xr.DataArray,
+        chunk_size: int,
+        dim: str,
+        shuffle: bool = False,
+        drop_remainder: bool = True,
+        seed: int = 0,
+        rank: int | None = None,
+        world_size: int | None = None,
+        process_group: dist.ProcessGroup | None = None,
+        load: bool = True,
+    ):
+        self.ds = ds
+        self.chunk_size = chunk_size
+        self.dim = dim
+        self.shuffle = shuffle
+        self.drop_remainder = drop_remainder
+        self.seed = seed
+        self.load = load
+
+        if rank is None:
+            self.rank = dist.get_rank(process_group)
+        else:
+            self.rank = rank
+
+        if world_size is None:
+            self.world_size = dist.get_world_size(process_group)
+        else:
+            self.world_size = world_size
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        return sharded_xr_dataset(
+            self.ds,
+            self.chunk_size,
+            self.dim,
+            self.shuffle,
+            self.drop_remainder,
+            self.seed,
+            self.rank,
+            self.world_size,
+            self.load,
+        )
diff --git a/test/test_data.py b/test/test_data.py
index 92aa1a7..a804a96 100644
--- a/test/test_data.py
+++ b/test/test_data.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
 import xarray as xr
-from dmlcloud.util.data import chunked_xr_dataset, shard_indices
+from dmlcloud.util.data import shard_indices, sharded_xr_dataset
 from numpy.testing import assert_array_equal
 
 
@@ -41,15 +41,15 @@ def test_shuffling(self):
         assert (np.array(indices) >= 0).all() and (np.array(indices) <= 9).all()
 
 
-class TestChunking:
+class TestShardedXr:
     def test_basic(self):
         ds = xr.DataArray(np.arange(100), dims=['x'], name='var').to_dataset()
         world_size = 3
         chunk_size = 15
 
-        chunks_1 = list(chunked_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=0, shuffle=False))
-        chunks_2 = list(chunked_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=1, shuffle=False))
-        chunks_3 = list(chunked_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=2, shuffle=False))
+        chunks_1 = list(sharded_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=0, shuffle=False))
+        chunks_2 = list(sharded_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=1, shuffle=False))
+        chunks_3 = list(sharded_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=2, shuffle=False))
 
         assert len(chunks_1) == 2
         assert len(chunks_2) == 2
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ def test_shuffled(self):
         world_size = 3
         chunk_size = 15
 
-        chunks_1 = list(chunked_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=0, shuffle=True, seed=0))
-        chunks_2 = list(chunked_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=1, shuffle=True, seed=0))
-        chunks_3 = list(chunked_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=2, shuffle=True, seed=0))
+        chunks_1 = list(sharded_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=0, shuffle=True, seed=0))
+        chunks_2 = list(sharded_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=1, shuffle=True, seed=0))
+        chunks_3 = list(sharded_xr_dataset(ds, chunk_size, 'x', world_size=world_size, rank=2, shuffle=True, seed=0))
 
         assert len(chunks_1) == 2
         assert len(chunks_2) == 2