Mac Pro setup?

So, I recently bought a refurb Mac Pro. I am moving from Windows, and would like to get started the right way. And I'm asking for your help despite my better judgment.

I have heard that it's possible/recommended to partition the OS onto its own drive for easy reinstalls. Is it possible to do this across the board for other applications? Is it possible to mirror just the application drive so that I can clean out the entire OS if necessary?

Also, how would I go about having a distinct install (virtual?) drive for beta applications? You know... not that I currently do any beta testing... ahem. But, if I did, what would be the best way to set up a Mac Pro for this hypothetical arrangement?