Dedicated IP addresses (managed) for Amazon SES

Dedicated IP addresses (managed) is an Amazon SES feature that automatically sets up and manages dedicated IP addresses on your behalf to provide a quick and easy way to start using dedicated IP addresses that are managed by SES. This helps to ensure that your dedicated IP addresses are used efficiently and optimally for how you send email.

To enable dedicated IPs (managed) in your account, you just create a managed IP pool and SES does all the rest. SES will determine how many dedicated IPs you require based on your sending patterns, create them for you, and then manage how they scale based on your sending requirements.

Once enabled, you can utilize dedicated IPs (managed) in your email sending by associating the managed IP pool with a configuration set, and then specifying that configuration set when sending email. The configuration set can also be applied to a sending identity by using a default configuration set.

Benefits and features of dedicated IPs (managed)

The dedicated IP addresses that you create with dedicated IPs (managed) automate management tasks to help ensure that your dedicated IP addresses are used in a way that's optimal for how you send email:

• Easy onboarding – To get started with dedicated IPs (managed), you create a managed IP pool directly from the SES console. Dedicated IP addresses are automatically allocated to the pool. You can start sending with the managed IP pool without having to open a request case through the AWS Support Center.

• Auto-scaling per ISP – You don't have to manually monitor or scale your dedicated IP pools because the managed IP pool scales out automatically based on usage. It also takes into consideration ISP-specific policies. For example, if SES detects that an ISP supports a low daily send quota, the pool scales out to better distribute traffic to that ISP across more IP addresses.

• Intelligent warmup – Dedicated IPs (managed) start to send mail to ISPs based on their capacity. That is, how much they are currently warmed up. They automatically keep track of the level of warmup for each ISP individually. Additionally, the dedicated IPs (managed) feature provides information about your reputation at an effective daily rate with top ISPs in the form of Amazon CloudWatch metrics and built-in dashboards.

  • Warmup per ISP – SES tracks the reputation for each IP in the managed IP pool for each ISP individually. For example, if you've been sending all your traffic to Gmail, the IP addresses are considered warmed up only for Gmail and cold for other ISPs. If you change your traffic pattern by ramping up email sent to Hotmail, SES ramps up traffic slowly for Hotmail, as the IP addresses are not warmed up yet.

  • Adaptive warmup & Shared pool transitioning – The warmup adjustment is adaptive and takes into account actual sending patterns. When sending volume to an ISP drops, the warmup percentage also drops for that ISP. In the early phase of warmup, any sending that's excessive based on the current level of warmup is sent through the IP addresses that are shared with other Amazon SES users—the SES shared pool. In later stages of warmup, any sending that's excessive is proactively slowed down and retried later.

    Important

    While dedicated IPs (managed) automatically warms up your dedicated IP addresses, part of that automatic process is working interactively with the SES shared IP pool.

    • If your sending rate is too aggressive for your new dedicated IPs while they're being warmed up, SES will automatically spill part of your sending over into the SES shared IP pool to protect the reputation of your new dedicated IPs.

    • Even after your new dedicated IPs are fully warmed up, it isn't guaranteed that all of your sending will go through them 100% of the time. For example, if your sending rate suddenly rises and dedicated IPs (managed) determines it must allocate an additional dedicated IP address, it will initiate the warmup process which includes using the shared pool. Likewise, if your sending rate suddenly drops very low, all of your sending could switch over to the SES shared IP pool, see Why proper IP warmup is important.

• Automatic request & relinquish of dedicated IP addresses – You don't need to request or relinquish managed dedicated IP addresses through the AWS Support Center, as is required when using dedicated IPs (standard). When onboarding with dedicated IPs (managed) directly from the SES console, CLI, or API, you are automatically allocated dedicated IP addresses and charged a fee based on the volume of messages that you send. When you delete an IP pool that's created by dedicated IPs (managed) or opt out of dedicated IPs (managed), your allocated IP addresses are automatically relinquished and charges cease immediately.

  • Getting your first dedicated IP address – The dedicated IPs (managed) feature will automatically allocate your first dedicated IP address once your sending volume reaches hundreds of emails over a period of a few days. This ensures that the IP you send from can build a sending reputation and improve deliverability. (If you don’t expect your sending volume to be at this level, you should be using shared IP addresses. See the comparison table in Dedicated IP addresses for Amazon SES to review the type of IP addresses that are best for how you send email.)

Why proper IP warmup is important

To ensure that your email will be delivered through your dedicated IP address, it must have a good reputation with the receiving ISP. ISPs will only accept a small volume of email from an IP that they don’t recognize. When you’re first allocated an IP, it’s new and won’t be recognized by the receiving ISP because it doesn’t have a reputation associated with it. In order for an IP’s reputation to be established, it must gradually build trust with receiving ISP—this gradual trust building process is referred to as warming-up. Immediately after dedicated IPs (managed) allocates an IP, it starts the Intelligent warmup process.

With the Warmup per ISP and Adaptive warmup features of dedicated IPs (managed), business continuity is maintained throughout the warmup cycle by ensuring that your email will be delivered. Once the warmup phase is complete, any excess capacity is queued and sent only through the dedicated IP pool. However, if you have one dedicated IP address and your sending falls below the minimum volume required to maintain IP reputation, dedicated IPs (managed) may remove your dedicated IP and your sending will be routed through the SES shared IP pool.

Note

If you send small volumes of email (less than a few hundred per day over a few days), it would be more beneficial to send through the SES shared IP pool. See if dedicated IPs (managed) is right for how you send mail by reviewing the comparison table in Dedicated IP addresses for Amazon SES.

Creating a managed IP pool to enable dedicated IPs (managed)

To enable dedicated IPs (managed), you first create a managed IP pool. After you create a managed pool, the feature determines how many dedicated IPs you require based on your sending patterns and will dynamically scale them to your requirements.

To use your managed pool to send email, you must associate the managed pool with a configuration set, and then specify that configuration set when sending email. The configuration set can also be applied to a sending identity by using a default configuration set.

There are two ways you can create a managed IP pool:

• Create a new pool.

• Convert an existing pool from standard to managed.

In the following procedures, instructions are provided for either method.

To create or convert to a managed IP pool using the SES console

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon SES console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ses/.

2. In the left navigation pane, choose Dedicated IPs.

3. Depending on whether you want to create a new managed IP pool or convert a standard dedicated IP pool to a managed one, follow the respective instructions:

   Create new pool

   To create a new managed IP pool

   1. Do one of the following:

      1. If you don't have existing dedicated IPs in your account:

         1. The Dedicated IPs onboarding page is displayed. In the Dedicated IPs (managed) overview panel, choose Enable dedicated IPs.

            The Create IP Pool page opens.

      2. If you have existing dedicated IPs in your account:

         1. Select the Managed IP pools tab on the Dedicated IPs page.

         2. In the All Dedicated IP (managed) pools panel, choose Create Managed IP pool.

            The Create IP Pool page opens.

   2. In the Pool details panel,

      1. Choose Managed (auto managed) in the Scaling mode field.

      2. Enter a name for your managed pool in the IP pool name field.

         Note

         • The IP pool name must be unique. It can't be a duplicate of a standard dedicated IP pool name in your account.

         • You can't have more than 50 dedicated IP pools per AWS Region in your account inclusive of both managed and standard IP pools.

   3. (Optional) You can associate this managed IP pool with a configuration set by choosing one from the dropdown list in the Configuration sets field.

      Note

      • If you choose a configuration set that's already associated with an IP pool, it will become associated with this managed pool, and no longer be associated with the previous pool.

      • To add or remove associated configuration sets after this managed pool is created, edit the configuration set's Sending IP pool parameter in the General details panel.

      • If you haven’t created any configuration sets yet, see Using configuration sets in Amazon SES.

   4. (Optional) You can add one or more Tags to your IP pool by including a tag key and an optional value for the key.

      1. Choose Add new tag and enter the Key. You can also add an optional Value for the tag. You can add up to 50 tags, if you make a mistake, choose Remove.

      2. To add the tags, choose Save changes.

         After you create the pool, you can add, remove, or edit tags by selecting the managed pool and choosing Edit.

   5. Select Create pool.

      Note

      • After you create a managed IP pool, it can't be converted to a standard IP pool.

      • When using dedicated IPs (managed), you can't have more than 10,000 sending identities (domains and email addresses, in any combination) per AWS Region in your account.

   Convert standard to managed

   To convert a standard dedicated IP pool to managed

   1. Select the Standard IP pools tab on the Dedicated IPs page.

   2. In the All Dedicated IP (standard) pools panel, select the checkbox of the dedicated IP pool you want to convert from standard to managed.

   3. Choose Convert to managed pool—read the Convert to managed IP pool dialogue to confirm that you understand the conditions of converting your standard dedicated IP pool to a managed one.

      Note

      Before converting your dedicated IP pool from standard to managed, note the following:

      1. All of your current dedicated IPs (standard) will be moved to the managed pool.

      2. If you’re currently leasing too many dedicated IPs (standard) for your sending volume, then dedicated IPs (managed) will remove the redundant IPs.

      3. If any of your dedicated IPs (standard) are part of an allow-list for other applications, you should not transfer them to the managed pool as they will be removed if they become redundant—refer to point 2.

      4. You will no longer be charged per IP, but instead will be charged based on the volume you send through the managed pool. See Amazon SES pricing.

   4. If you agree to the conditions as stated, choose Confirm—a banner appears, confirming that your standard dedicated IP pool has been converted to a managed pool.

      Note

      Any configurations sets or tags you had associated with the standard pool before conversion will now be associated with the managed pool providing a seamless transition for any email sending using the configuration set.

Event publishing can be used to track the managed pool's sending performance. For more information, see Monitor email sending using Amazon SES event publishing.

Viewing managed IP pool sending and capacity in the Amazon SES console

For the managed IP pools you've created, the SES console provides an easy way for you to observe how they're being used for your email sending through the use of cards and time series graphs that show sending metrics and ISP utilization and capacity.

To view managed IP pool sending and capacity using the SES console

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon SES console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ses/.

2. In the left navigation pane, choose Dedicated IPs.

3. Select the Managed IP pools tab on the Dedicated IPs page.

4. Depending on whether you want to view sending and capacity metrics in the Amazon SES console or the Amazon CloudWatch console, follow the respective instructions:

   Amazon SES console

   To view sending and capacity metrics in the Amazon SES console

   1. In the All Dedicated IP (managed) pools table, select the name of a managed IP pool listed in the IP pool column to view its details.

      The selected IP pool's detail page opens with the following cards and time series graphs:

      1. Cards:

         • Sending status – Indicates if your sending volume and frequency is enough to utilize dedicated IPs by displaying one of two statuses:

           • Insufficient volume – Your sending volume is too low.

           • Sending via Dedicated IPs – One or more dedicated IPs are being used in your managed pool.

         • Managed dedicated IP send volume – The volume of email sent through dedicated IPs in your managed pool in the last 7 days.

         • Managed dedicated IP send percentage – The percentage of email sent through dedicated IPs in your managed pool in the last 7 days.

      2. Graphs:

         • Sent volume – The volume of email sent in the last 7 days through managed dedicated IPs as compared to shared IPs.

         • Percentage of sent volume – The percentage of email sent in the last 7 days through managed dedicated IPs as compared to shared IPs.

         • ISP capacity – Displays how much email is being sent through dedicated IPs in your managed pool per the top 10 most widely used ISPs and their available capacity during your sending:

           • Sends for ISP (red bars) – The volume of email you sent in the last 24 hours through the selected ISP.

           • Capacity for ISP (blue line) – The selected ISP’s available capacity during the last 24 hours.

   2. To filter on a specific ISP for the ISP capacity graph, choose the ISP list box and select an ISP—the graph will update with metrics for the selected ISP. (If you don't filter on an ISP, Gmail is displayed by default).

   Amazon CloudWatch console

   To view sending and capacity metrics in the Amazon CloudWatch console

   • In the All Dedicated IP (managed) pools table, select the See <pool_name> CloudWatch metrics link in the CloudWatch metrics column to view its details.

     The selected IP pool's page opens in the CloudWatch console displaying the following metrics:

     • Send – The volume of email sent through both managed dedicated IPs and shared IPs.

     • ApproximateDedicatedSendingPercentage – Indicates the approximate percentage of traffic that has been delivered through a dedicated IP.

     • SentLast24Hours – The volume of email you sent in the last 24 hours through the selected ISP. (Labeled Sends for ISP in the SES console.)

     • Available24HourSend – The selected ISP’s available capacity during the last 24 hours. (Labeled Capacity for ISP in the SES console.)

Deleting a managed IP pool and opting out of dedicated IPs (managed)

When you delete a managed IP pool, all of its allocated IP addresses are automatically relinquished. If you only have one managed IP pool and you delete it, or you delete your last remaining managed IP pool, you'll be opting out of the dedicated IPs (managed) feature and charges will cease immediately.

To delete a managed IP pool using the SES console

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon SES console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ses/.

2. In the left navigation pane, choose Dedicated IPs.

3. Select the Managed IP pools tab on the Dedicated IPs page.

4. In the All Dedicated IP (managed) pools table, select the radio button next to the IP pool name of the managed pool you want to remove and choose Delete.

5. In the pop-up modal, you'll have the opportunity to confirm your choice by selecting Delete, or Cancel to keep your managed pool.

   Note

   If you only have one managed pool or you're removing your last managed pool, the pop-up modal will remind you that by deleting your remaining managed pool, you'll be opting out of the dedicated IPs (managed) feature and will no longer be charged for it. You will be required to enter Disable in the confirmation field before you can choose Delete.