Managing data units by converting the data units into data segments and access files describing how to retrieve the data segments using hash values for the data segments. In a data store operation, the data unit is divided into data segments and an access file is generated. The access file includes segmenting scheme information for the data segments, hashing scheme information for the hash values, hash identification information describing the hash values, and location information identifying the locations at which the data segments are available. In a data retrieval operation, data from the data unit is retrieved by accessing the data segments and extracting the data therefrom, where the data segments are retrieved based on the access file for the data unit.