BuddyPress.org

If you need a practice area and a live area then just create some ‘practice’ groups. You can also create two installs one for development and training and one to go live with. I’ve done that sort of thing with a new accounting system/point of sale system for a company.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to ‘clone’ the groups component. At the lowest level they both write to the same set of tables. You wouldn’t really be doing much except changing what the ‘practice’ area says on the screen to the users.