Hmm - dunno what's so hard typing "net start mysql" or "/etc/rc.d/mysql start" on a command line. Automated SSH clients like Tunnelier or some SSH Agent can even automate the SSH login process while giving some more kind of security than using keys without a passphrase.
And - advantage with Replica is you don't need to lock tables on the server so there's no need to set the board offline.

With some very easy client side script it all can be done without much user interaction