diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/Aggregator.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/Aggregator.scala
index 59fdf659c9e11..4feaf5102f80c 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/Aggregator.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/Aggregator.scala
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package org.apache.spark
 
 import org.apache.spark.annotation.DeveloperApi
 import org.apache.spark.util.collection.{AppendOnlyMap, ExternalAppendOnlyMap}
+import org.apache.spark.serializer.Serializer
 
 /**
  * :: DeveloperApi ::
@@ -40,8 +41,8 @@ case class Aggregator[K, V, C] (
   def combineValuesByKey(iter: Iterator[_ <: Product2[K, V]]): Iterator[(K, C)] =
     combineValuesByKey(iter, null)
 
-  def combineValuesByKey(iter: Iterator[_ <: Product2[K, V]],
-                         context: TaskContext): Iterator[(K, C)] = {
+  def combineValuesByKey(iter: Iterator[_ <: Product2[K, V]], context: TaskContext,
+                         serializer: Serializer = SparkEnv.get.serializer): Iterator[(K, C)] = {
     if (!externalSorting) {
       val combiners = new AppendOnlyMap[K,C]
       var kv: Product2[K, V] = null
@@ -54,7 +55,8 @@ case class Aggregator[K, V, C] (
       }
       combiners.iterator
     } else {
-      val combiners = new ExternalAppendOnlyMap[K, V, C](createCombiner, mergeValue, mergeCombiners)
+      val combiners =
+        new ExternalAppendOnlyMap[K, V, C](createCombiner, mergeValue, mergeCombiners, serializer)
       while (iter.hasNext) {
         val (k, v) = iter.next()
         combiners.insert(k, v)
@@ -70,7 +72,8 @@ case class Aggregator[K, V, C] (
   def combineCombinersByKey(iter: Iterator[(K, C)]) : Iterator[(K, C)] =
     combineCombinersByKey(iter, null)
 
-  def combineCombinersByKey(iter: Iterator[(K, C)], context: TaskContext) : Iterator[(K, C)] = {
+  def combineCombinersByKey(iter: Iterator[(K, C)], context: TaskContext,
+                            serializer: Serializer = SparkEnv.get.serializer) : Iterator[(K, C)] = {
     if (!externalSorting) {
       val combiners = new AppendOnlyMap[K,C]
       var kc: Product2[K, C] = null
@@ -83,7 +86,8 @@ case class Aggregator[K, V, C] (
       }
       combiners.iterator
     } else {
-      val combiners = new ExternalAppendOnlyMap[K, C, C](identity, mergeCombiners, mergeCombiners)
+      val combiners =
+        new ExternalAppendOnlyMap[K, C, C](identity, mergeCombiners, mergeCombiners, serializer)
       while (iter.hasNext) {
         val (k, c) = iter.next()
         combiners.insert(k, c)
@@ -94,4 +98,4 @@ case class Aggregator[K, V, C] (
       combiners.iterator
     }
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/Aggregate.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/Aggregate.scala
index 36b3b956da96c..eb16590ebb641 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/Aggregate.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/Aggregate.scala
@@ -21,9 +21,13 @@ import java.util.HashMap
 
 import org.apache.spark.annotation.DeveloperApi
 import org.apache.spark.SparkContext
+import org.apache.spark.SparkEnv
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.errors._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.physical._
+import scala.collection.mutable.ArrayBuffer
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.MutableProjection
+import org.apache.spark.Aggregator
 
 /**
  * :: DeveloperApi ::
@@ -129,32 +133,68 @@ case class Aggregate(
     }
   }
 
-  override def execute() = attachTree(this, "execute") {
-    if (groupingExpressions.isEmpty) {
-      child.execute().mapPartitions { iter =>
-        val buffer = newAggregateBuffer()
-        var currentRow: Row = null
-        while (iter.hasNext) {
-          currentRow = iter.next()
-          var i = 0
-          while (i < buffer.length) {
-            buffer(i).update(currentRow)
-            i += 1
-          }
-        }
-        val resultProjection = new Projection(resultExpressions, computedSchema)
-        val aggregateResults = new GenericMutableRow(computedAggregates.length)
+  /**
+   * Implementation of aggregate using external sorting.
+   */
+  private[this] def aggregateWithExternalSorting() = {
+
+    def createCombiner(v: Row) = ArrayBuffer(v)
+    def mergeValue(buf: ArrayBuffer[Row], v: Row) = buf += v
+    def mergeCombiners(c1: ArrayBuffer[Row], c2: ArrayBuffer[Row]) = c1 ++ c2
+
+    child.execute().mapPartitionsWithContext {
+      (context, iter) =>
+        val aggregator =
+          new Aggregator[Row, Row, ArrayBuffer[Row]](createCombiner, mergeValue, mergeCombiners)
+
+        val groupingProjection = new MutableProjection(groupingExpressions, childOutput)
+        val tuplesByGroups = iter.map(x => (groupingProjection(x).copy(), x.copy()))
+        val sortedProjectionGroups =
+          aggregator.combineValuesByKey(tuplesByGroups.toIterator,
+            context, new SparkSqlSerializer(SparkEnv.get.conf))
+
+        new Iterator[Row] {
+          private[this] val aggregateResults = new GenericMutableRow(computedAggregates.length)
+          private[this] val resultProjection =
+            new MutableProjection(resultExpressions, computedSchema ++ namedGroups.map(_._2))
+          private[this] val joinedRow = new JoinedRow
+
+          override final def hasNext: Boolean = sortedProjectionGroups.hasNext
 
-        var i = 0
-        while (i < buffer.length) {
-          aggregateResults(i) = buffer(i).eval(EmptyRow)
-          i += 1
+          override final def next(): Row = {
+            val currentEntry = sortedProjectionGroups.next()
+            val currentGroupKey = currentEntry._1
+            val currentGroupIterator = currentEntry._2.iterator
+
+            val currentBuffer = newAggregateBuffer()
+            while (currentGroupIterator.hasNext) {
+              val currentRow = currentGroupIterator.next()
+              var i = 0
+              while (i < currentBuffer.length) {
+                currentBuffer(i).update(currentRow)
+                i += 1
+              }
+            }
+
+            var i = 0
+            while (i < currentBuffer.length) {
+              // Evaluating an aggregate buffer returns the result.  No row is required since we
+              // already added all rows in the group using update.
+              aggregateResults(i) = currentBuffer(i).eval(EmptyRow)
+              i += 1
+            }
+            resultProjection(joinedRow(aggregateResults, currentGroupKey))
+          }
         }
+    }
+  }
 
-        Iterator(resultProjection(aggregateResults))
-      }
-    } else {
-      child.execute().mapPartitions { iter =>
+  /**
+   * Implementation of aggregate without external sorting.
+   */
+  private[this] def aggregate() = {
+    child.execute().mapPartitions {
+      iter =>
         val hashTable = new HashMap[Row, Array[AggregateFunction]]
         val groupingProjection = new MutableProjection(groupingExpressions, childOutput)
 
@@ -199,6 +239,41 @@ case class Aggregate(
             resultProjection(joinedRow(aggregateResults, currentGroup))
           }
         }
+    }
+  }
+
+  override def execute() = attachTree(this, "execute") {
+    if (groupingExpressions.isEmpty) {
+      child.execute().mapPartitions {
+        iter =>
+          val buffer = newAggregateBuffer()
+          var currentRow: Row = null
+          while (iter.hasNext) {
+            currentRow = iter.next()
+            var i = 0
+            while (i < buffer.length) {
+              buffer(i).update(currentRow)
+              i += 1
+            }
+          }
+          val resultProjection = new Projection(resultExpressions, computedSchema)
+          val aggregateResults = new GenericMutableRow(computedAggregates.length)
+
+          var i = 0
+          while (i < buffer.length) {
+            aggregateResults(i) = buffer(i).eval(EmptyRow)
+            i += 1
+          }
+
+          Iterator(resultProjection(aggregateResults))
+      }
+    } else {
+      val externalSorting = SparkEnv.get.conf.getBoolean("spark.shuffle.spill", true)
+
+      if (externalSorting) {
+        aggregateWithExternalSorting()
+      } else {
+        aggregate()
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/AggregateBMSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/AggregateBMSuite.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1de9d5b09fc51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/AggregateBMSuite.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package org.apache.spark.sql
+
+import org.apache.spark.sql.TestData._
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.Sum
+import org.apache.spark.sql.test.TestSQLContext
+
+/* Implicits */
+import TestSQLContext._
+
+/**
+ * A simple benchmark to compare the performance of group by aggregate with and
+ * without external sorting.
+ */
+class AggregateBMSuite extends QueryTest {
+
+  test("agg random 10m") {
+    val t0 = System.nanoTime()
+    val sparkAnswerIterator = testDataLarge.groupBy('a)('a, Sum('b)).collect().iterator
+    val t1 = System.nanoTime()
+    println((t1 - t0)/1000000 + " ms")
+    var isValid = true
+    while (sparkAnswerIterator.hasNext) {
+      val group = sparkAnswerIterator.next()
+      // the sum is expected to be a 10k times the grouping attribute
+      if (group.getLong(1) != group.getInt(0) * 10000) {
+        isValid = false
+      }
+    }
+    if (!isValid) {
+      fail (
+        "Invalid aggregation results"
+      )
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/TestData.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/TestData.scala
index 002b7f0adafab..a3e174627d933 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/TestData.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/TestData.scala
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ object TestData {
       (1, null) ::
       (2, 2) :: Nil)
 
+  case class TestDataLarge(a: Int, b:Int)
+  val testDataLarge: SchemaRDD =
+    TestSQLContext.sparkContext.parallelize(
+      (1 to 10000000).map(i => TestDataLarge(i%1000, i%1000)))
+  testDataLarge.registerAsTable("testDataLarge")
+  
   case class UpperCaseData(N: Int, L: String)
   val upperCaseData =
     TestSQLContext.sparkContext.parallelize(