Since your post contains keywords like hashes, tcp, serialized data, compression, Tk, etc. I might mention Net::EasyTCP. It will automatically serialize hashes for you, has a choice of compression and encryption, and port passwords for more security. See ztk-enchat encrypted server client for how to use it with Tk. Basically, you setup a Tk timer to run a do_one_loop in the server, so both eventloops run simultaneously.

$server = new Net::EasyTCP(
    host  =>  $host, 
    mode  =>  'server',
    port  =>   $port,
    password => $portpassword,  # if using asymmetric encryption, 
                                # use a port password for better secur
+ity
    donotencryptwith => \@nocrypt,
#    donotencrypt => 1,
#    donotcompresswith => \@nocompress,
#    donotcompress => 1,
    )
       || die "ERROR CREATING SERVER: $@\n";

$server->setcallback(
     data            =>      \&gotdata,
     connect         =>      \&connected,
     disconnect      =>      \&disconnected,
    )
     || die "ERROR SETTING CALLBACKS: $@\n";

# start server up
$server->do_one_loop() || die "ERROR looping SERVER: $@\n";

&displayit($rotext,'Server started at '.&gettime()." on port $port\n")
+;

# start main listening loop for Tk
$loop = $mw->repeat(11, 
              sub { 
            $server->do_one_loop(); 
            $mw->idletasks;
            if($serverstopflag){ &kill_server } 
        } ); 
}
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