With the recent news that Oracle will be retiring Dyn Legacy Enterprise Email services, customers are looking for Dyn alternative services to deliver their email. Our team at SocketLabs has had an influx of questions about how to migrate from Oracle Dyn email delivery to SocketLabs, so we decided to make this guide to simplify the process.

If you are new to SocketLabs and are interested in learning more about who we are before continuing, check out our email solutions and our developer hub  to see how we can help you.

SocketLabs is built on the robust foundation of our fast, flexible, and reliable email APIs. The email solutions that our customers love are a direct result of the powerful APIs that lay at our foundation. From our injection API to our reporting API, we have 6 different APIs and other email solutions that can change the way you send, track, deliver email. This guide will take you through the easy steps to start sending email with SocketLabs while covering some of the benefits of our platform that your current providers lacks.

SMTP

How to get your SMTP Credentials

Log into the Control Panel at https://cp.socketlabs.com. Once in the Control Panel, click the “View” button next to your Server to go to the Server Dashboard. From the Server Dashboard click the “Configuration” option, then select SMTP Credentials in the dropdown menu. Please keep your SMTP Credentials secure. While you are in the Control Panel, it might be a good time to look around and see all the reports, settings, features and functionality available to you.

If you’re sending via SMTP, there are a few things you should know. SocketLabs does not require separate SMTP host names based on message size. All SMTP connections should use the hostname smtp.socketlabs.com.

While the Dyn email delivery service only supports connections on port 25 and 587, SocketLabs accepts SMTP connections on ports 25, 2525, 587, and 465. Please note that connections to port 465 require the use of implicit SSL.

More information on connecting to SocketLabs over SMTP can be found in our Help Center.

HTTP Injection API

First you will need to set up a SocketLabs account which you can do for free. Next, you should create an API key that you’ll use for sending. Once logged in, navigate to your SocketLabs server’s dashboard (if you only have one server on your account you’ll be taken here immediately after logging in). Make note of your 4 or 5 digit ServerId number, as you’ll need this along with your API key in order to use the Injection API.

To enable the Injection API, click on the “For Developers” dropdown on the top-level navigation, then choose the “Configure HTTP Injection API” option. Once here, you can enable the feature by choosing the “Enabled” option in the dropdown. Enabling the feature will also generate your API key, which you’ll need (along with your ServerId) to start using the API.

SocketLabs API Libraries

While Dyn provides official SDKs in Python and PHP, we have six officially supported API Libraries that will make any email system integration a breeze. If you’re rewriting code, or refactoring how you communicate with your email service provider as part of your migration, check out our libraries:

socketlabs-csharp – Official C# library
socketlabs-go – Official Go library
socketlabs-java – Official Java library
socketlabs-nodejs – Official NodeJS library
socketlabs-php – Official PHP library
socketlabs-python – Official Python library

Compared to Dyn’s HTTP API, SocketLabs’ Injection API provides more features to enable you to customize your message’s recipients with merge fields or templates, and even send multiple different messages in a single request.

We also make it easy to add attachments to your API request. Just encode your file as a Base64 string and embed it directly in the JSON payload alongside MIME content information. If you are using one of our official libraries, the library will even handle this part for you.

For more information about the Injection API, please see our full API documentation.

Webhooks

SocketLabs provides two webhooks.  First, is the Notification API for receiving real-time POST notifications about email related events such as delivered, failed, opened messages, and even unsubscribes. We also provide the Inbound Parse API for receiving emails, parsing the email into JSON and programmatically reacting to them.

These features are not available with Oracle Dyn, but can be great for adding additional automation to your email management. They’re worth a look as you start setting up.

Other SocketLabs APIs

In addition to the Injection API and the webhooks described above, SocketLabs also offers additional API:

• SocketLabs Marketing API which allows you to manage contacts within your recipient lists for use with SocketLabs Marketing tools.
• SocketLabs Reporting API which allows you to query and access statistics about a mail stream in scenarios where webhooks are not appropriate.
• SocketLabs Suppression API which allows you to programmatically query your Suppression List to search for, add, or remove addresses. (Available on SocketLabs Enterprise Plan)

Marketing Campaigns

Another great benefit to using the SocketLabs platform is our Marketing Center. This platform comes with all of the tools and technology you will need to maximize the success of your email. With easy-to-use templates, drag and drop design, list segmentation and targeting, drip campaigns, and tons more, our email marketing center has everything you will need to create and send your email marketing campaign.

SocketLabs

If you want to learn more about SocketLabs and the email solutions we offer, visit us on our website or you can call, chat or visit our help center. If you are ready to upgrade your email system with SocketLabs, you can get a custom quote here.

SocketLabs FAQ

Q: Can I integrate SocketLabs email reporting into my application or website?
A: Yes, SocketLabs offers advanced statistical reporting which provides 24/7 real-time reporting into how your emails are performing. You can integrate this reporting easily using our powerful reporting API.

Q: Can I migrate my IP address and sender reputation from my existing email platform to SocketLabs?
A: We cannot migrate your existing IP address to our email platform however we always take the necessary steps to warm-up new IP addresses and apply sending best practices so all senders using SocketLabs will be set up for success.

Q: Will SocketLabs improve my email success rates?
A: SocketLabs offers real-time email analytics so senders can track every aspect of their email performance, automatic bounce processing and suppression list placement to help maintain a good IP reputation, and all of the latest authentication technologies that will help secure your email and improve your deliverability.