I'd like to set up a staging server for a Rails app. I use git & github, Cap, and have a VPS with Apache/Passenger. I'm curious as to the best practices for a staging setup, as far as both the configuration of the staging server as well as the processes for interacting with it. I do know it should be as identical to the production server as possible, but restricting public access to it will limit that, so tips on securing it only for my use would also be great.

Another specific question would be whether I could just create a virtual host on the VPS, so that the staging server could reside alongside the production one. I have a feeling there may be reasons to avoid this, though.