diff --git a/R-package/NAMESPACE b/R-package/NAMESPACE
index fab1546a2..ee8496d83 100644
--- a/R-package/NAMESPACE
+++ b/R-package/NAMESPACE
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ export(xgb.model.dt.tree)
 export(xgb.plot.importance)
 export(xgb.plot.tree)
 export(xgb.save)
+export(xgb.save.raw)
 export(xgb.train)
 export(xgboost)
 exportMethods(predict)
diff --git a/R-package/R/utils.R b/R-package/R/utils.R
index 412132891..b0c7f15ac 100644
--- a/R-package/R/utils.R
+++ b/R-package/R/utils.R
@@ -57,10 +57,13 @@ xgb.Booster <- function(params = list(), cachelist = list(), modelfile = NULL) {
     }
   }
   if (!is.null(modelfile)) {
-    if (typeof(modelfile) != "character") {
-      stop("xgb.Booster: modelfile must be character")
+    if (typeof(modelfile) == "character") {
+      .Call("XGBoosterLoadModel_R", handle, modelfile, PACKAGE = "xgboost")
+    } else if (typeof(modelfile) == "raw") {
+      .Call("XGBoosterLoadModelFromRaw_R", handle, modelfile, PACKAGE = "xgboost")      
+    } else {
+      stop("xgb.Booster: modelfile must be character or raw vector")
     }
-    .Call("XGBoosterLoadModel_R", handle, modelfile, PACKAGE = "xgboost")
   }
   return(structure(handle, class = "xgb.Booster"))
 }
diff --git a/R-package/R/xgb.save.raw.R b/R-package/R/xgb.save.raw.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..11fc44470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R-package/R/xgb.save.raw.R
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#' Save xgboost model to R's raw vector,
+#' user can call xgb.load to load the model back from raw vector
+#' 
+#' Save xgboost model from xgboost or xgb.train
+#' 
+#' @param model the model object.
+#' 
+#' @examples
+#' data(agaricus.train, package='xgboost')
+#' data(agaricus.test, package='xgboost')
+#' train <- agaricus.train
+#' test <- agaricus.test
+#' bst <- xgboost(data = train$data, label = train$label, max.depth = 2, 
+#'                eta = 1, nround = 2,objective = "binary:logistic")
+#' raw <- xgb.save(bst)
+#' bst <- xgb.load(raw)
+#' pred <- predict(bst, test$data)
+#' @export
+#' 
+xgb.save.raw <- function(model) {
+  if (class(model) == "xgb.Booster") {
+    raw <- .Call("XGBoosterModelToRaw_R", model, PACKAGE = "xgboost")
+    return(raw)
+  }
+  stop("xgb.raw: the input must be xgb.Booster. Use xgb.DMatrix.save to save
+       xgb.DMatrix object.")
+}
diff --git a/R-package/demo/basic_walkthrough.R b/R-package/demo/basic_walkthrough.R
index 7e6914b31..25dd56612 100644
--- a/R-package/demo/basic_walkthrough.R
+++ b/R-package/demo/basic_walkthrough.R
@@ -58,6 +58,14 @@ pred2 <- predict(bst2, test$data)
 # pred2 should be identical to pred
 print(paste("sum(abs(pred2-pred))=", sum(abs(pred2-pred))))
 
+# save model to R's raw vector
+raw = xgb.save.raw(bst)
+# load binary model to R
+bst3 <- xgb.load(raw)
+pred3 <- predict(bst2, test$data)
+# pred2 should be identical to pred
+print(paste("sum(abs(pred3-pred))=", sum(abs(pred2-pred))))
+
 #----------------Advanced features --------------
 # to use advanced features, we need to put data in xgb.DMatrix
 dtrain <- xgb.DMatrix(data = train$data, label=train$label)
diff --git a/R-package/src/xgboost_R.cpp b/R-package/src/xgboost_R.cpp
index aa17b30cc..9ebcec167 100644
--- a/R-package/src/xgboost_R.cpp
+++ b/R-package/src/xgboost_R.cpp
@@ -274,6 +274,23 @@ extern "C" {
     XGBoosterSaveModel(R_ExternalPtrAddr(handle), CHAR(asChar(fname)));
     _WrapperEnd();
   }
+  void XGBoosterLoadModelFromRaw_R(SEXP handle, SEXP raw) {    
+    _WrapperBegin();
+    XGBoosterLoadModelFromBuffer(R_ExternalPtrAddr(handle),
+                                 RAW(raw),
+                                 length(raw));
+    _WrapperEnd();
+  }
+  SEXP XGBoosterModelToRaw_R(SEXP handle) {
+    bst_ulong olen;
+    _WrapperBegin();
+    const char *raw = XGBoosterGetModelRaw(R_ExternalPtrAddr(handle), &olen);
+    _WrapperEnd();
+    SEXP ret = PROTECT(allocVector(RAWSXP, olen));
+    memcpy(RAW(ret), raw, olen);
+    UNPROTECT(1);    
+    return ret;
+  }
   SEXP XGBoosterDumpModel_R(SEXP handle, SEXP fmap, SEXP with_stats) {
     _WrapperBegin();
     bst_ulong olen;
diff --git a/R-package/src/xgboost_R.h b/R-package/src/xgboost_R.h
index 1e7606dd7..a86e85ffa 100644
--- a/R-package/src/xgboost_R.h
+++ b/R-package/src/xgboost_R.h
@@ -127,6 +127,17 @@ extern "C" {
    * \param fname file name
    */    
   void XGBoosterSaveModel_R(SEXP handle, SEXP fname);
+  /*!
+   * \brief load model from raw array
+   * \param handle handle
+   */    
+  void XGBoosterLoadModelFromRaw_R(SEXP handle, SEXP raw);
+  /*!
+   * \brief save model into R's raw array
+   * \param handle handle
+   * \return raw array
+   */
+  SEXP XGBoosterModelToRaw_R(SEXP handle);
   /*!
    * \brief dump model into a string
    * \param handle handle
diff --git a/src/learner/learner-inl.hpp b/src/learner/learner-inl.hpp
index f7af5bfff..ee9153896 100644
--- a/src/learner/learner-inl.hpp
+++ b/src/learner/learner-inl.hpp
@@ -159,7 +159,9 @@ class BoostLearner : public rabit::ISerializable {
    * \param with_pbuffer whether to load with predict buffer
    * \param calc_num_feature whether call InitTrainer with calc_num_feature
    */
-  inline void LoadModel(utils::IStream &fi, bool with_pbuffer = true, bool calc_num_feature = true) {
+  inline void LoadModel(utils::IStream &fi,
+                        bool with_pbuffer = true,
+                        bool calc_num_feature = true) {
     utils::Check(fi.Read(&mparam, sizeof(ModelParam)) != 0,
                  "BoostLearner: wrong model format");
     utils::Check(fi.Read(&name_obj_), "BoostLearner: wrong model format");
@@ -192,8 +194,8 @@ class BoostLearner : public rabit::ISerializable {
    */
   inline void LoadModel(const char *fname) {
     FILE *fp = utils::FopenCheck(fname, "rb");
-    std::string header; header.resize(4);
     utils::FileStream fi(fp);
+    std::string header; header.resize(4);
     // check header for different binary encode
     // can be base64 or binary
     if (fi.Read(&header[0], 4) != 0) {
diff --git a/wrapper/xgboost_wrapper.cpp b/wrapper/xgboost_wrapper.cpp
index d744c3e22..2aa523494 100644
--- a/wrapper/xgboost_wrapper.cpp
+++ b/wrapper/xgboost_wrapper.cpp
@@ -57,6 +57,22 @@ class Booster: public learner::BoostLearner {
     learner::BoostLearner::LoadModel(fname);
     this->init_model = true;
   }
+  inline void LoadModelFromBuffer(const void *buf, size_t size) {
+    utils::MemoryFixSizeBuffer fs((void*)buf, size);
+    learner::BoostLearner::LoadModel(fs);
+    this->init_model = true;    
+  }
+  inline const char *GetModelRaw(bst_ulong *out_len) {
+    model_str.resize(0);
+    utils::MemoryBufferStream fs(&model_str);
+    learner::BoostLearner::SaveModel(fs);
+    *out_len = static_cast<bst_ulong>(model_str.length());
+    if (*out_len == 0) {
+      return NULL;
+    } else {
+      return &model_str[0];
+    }
+  }
   inline const char** GetModelDump(const utils::FeatMap& fmap, bool with_stats, bst_ulong *len) {
     model_dump = this->DumpModel(fmap, with_stats);
     model_dump_cptr.resize(model_dump.size());
@@ -69,6 +85,8 @@ class Booster: public learner::BoostLearner {
   // temporal fields
   // temporal data to save evaluation dump
   std::string eval_str;
+  // temporal data to save model dump
+  std::string model_str;
   // temporal space to save model dump
   std::vector<std::string> model_dump;
   std::vector<const char*> model_dump_cptr;
@@ -295,6 +313,12 @@ extern "C"{
   void XGBoosterSaveModel(const void *handle, const char *fname) {
     static_cast<const Booster*>(handle)->SaveModel(fname);
   }
+  void XGBoosterLoadModelFromBuffer(void *handle, const void *buf, bst_ulong len) {
+    static_cast<Booster*>(handle)->LoadModelFromBuffer(buf, len);
+  }
+  const char *XGBoosterGetModelRaw(void *handle, bst_ulong *out_len) {
+    return static_cast<Booster*>(handle)->GetModelRaw(out_len);
+  }
   const char** XGBoosterDumpModel(void *handle, const char *fmap, int with_stats, bst_ulong *len){
     utils::FeatMap featmap;
     if (strlen(fmap) != 0) {
diff --git a/wrapper/xgboost_wrapper.h b/wrapper/xgboost_wrapper.h
index 82fedb9d6..f236ee5da 100644
--- a/wrapper/xgboost_wrapper.h
+++ b/wrapper/xgboost_wrapper.h
@@ -224,6 +224,21 @@ extern "C" {
    * \param fname file name
    */
   XGB_DLL void XGBoosterSaveModel(const void *handle, const char *fname);
+  /*!
+   * \brief load model from in memory buffer
+   * \param handle handle
+   * \param buf pointer to the buffer
+   * \param len the length of the buffer
+   */
+  XGB_DLL void XGBoosterLoadModelFromBuffer(void *handle, const void *buf, bst_ulong len);
+  /*!
+   * \brief save model into binary raw bytes, return header of the array
+   * user must copy the result out, before next xgboost call
+   * \param handle handle
+   * \param out_len the argument to hold the output length
+   * \return the pointer to the beginning of binary buffer
+   */
+  XGB_DLL const char *XGBoosterGetModelRaw(void *handle, bst_ulong *out_len);
   /*!
    * \brief dump model, return array of strings representing model dump
    * \param handle handle