Creation of EV Test Lab for Upgrade

I wish to upgrade my version of Enterprise Vault from 8. SP 5 to 9 and wanted to know how to go about creating a clone for a test lab.

I don't know the first thing about Exchange and only got involved because I am familiar with SQL Server.

Do I need to isolate the test lab from the live network / domain, perhaps in a virtual environment?

Is a restore of the production system the way forward or do I create a brand new 8.0.5 instance?

We've never done a restore of EV before so it would be useful as part of a DR exercise.

Many Thanks in advance.